Diabetes in pregnancy

Diabetes in pregnancy includes pre-existing diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Diabetes in pregnancy is common, affecting about 1 in 20 pregnancies

• Pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy affected 0.5% of pregnancies in 2005–07.
• GDM affected about 5% of pregnancies in 2005–07.

For more information, see Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers have higher rates of diabetes in pregnancy (GDM or pre-existing diabetes) than non-Indigenous mothers

• Pre-existing diabetes affecting pregnancy in Indigenous mothers was 3 to 4 times as common as pre-existing diabetes affecting pregnancy in non-Indigenous mothers.

For more information, see Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies.

Mothers with pre-existing diabetes have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes than mothers without diabetes

Mothers with GDM are also more likely to have higher rates of some adverse pregnancy outcomes than mothers without diabetes.

Adverse pregnancy outcomes include:

• pre-term birth
• induced labour
• caesarean section, and
• a postnatal length of stay in hospital of 7 or more days (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Adverse pregnancy among women with pre-existing diabetes compared with women with GDM and with women without diabetes

Source: AIHW analysis of National Perinatal Data Collection data. Table 1

For more information, see Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies.

Babies of mothers with pre-existing diabetes have higher rates of adverse outcomes than babies of mothers without diabetes

Babies of mothers with GDM were also more likely to have higher rates of some adverse pregnancy outcomes than babies of mothers without diabetes.

Adverse outcomes include:

• a low Apgar score
• high-level resuscitation
• admission to SCN/NICU, and
• a hospital length of stay of 7-13 days (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Adverse outcomes among babies of women with diabetes in pregnancy compared with babies of women without diabetes

Source: AIHW analysis of National Perinatal Data Collection data. Table 2

For more information, see Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies.

Babies of mothers with GDM were least likely to be stillborn (3.8 per 1,000 births), compared with babies of mothers without diabetes (7.4 per 1,000 births) and babies of mothers with pre-existing diabetes (20.7 per 1,000 births).

Further information

AIHW 2010. Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies  

Definitions

Diabetes in pregnancy includes pre-existing (Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Apgar score

Numerical score used to indicate the baby’s condition at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth. Between 0 and 2 points are given for each of five characteristics: heart rate, breathing, colour, muscle tone and reflex irritability, for a total score of between 0 (very poor) and 10 (perfect).

Caesarean section

Operative birth by surgical incision through the abdominal wall and uterus.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)

A form of diabetes that is defined as glucose intolerance in pregnant women not previously diagnosed with diabetes. Women who have had GDM are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life and GDM increases the risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality.

Induced labour

Intervention to stimulate the onset of labour.

Length of stay

The number of days a mother or baby remains in hospital, which is calculated from the date of admission or birth, until the date of separation home.

Pre-existing diabetes

A grouped condition that includes Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, as well as other forms of diabetes diagnosed before conception.

Pre-term birth

Delivery of a baby at less than 37 completed weeks gestation.

Prevalence

The number or proportion (of cases, instances, and so on) present in a population at a given time. The prevalence rate in this report is calculated by dividing the number of people with the disease by the average population in the same reference period.

Resuscitation

Active measures taken shortly after birth to help the baby’s ventilation and heartbeat, or to treat depressed respiratory effort and to correct metabolic disturbances.

SCN/NICU

Special care nursery (SCN) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Stillbirth

Also called fetal death, stillbirth includes babies born at less than 20 weeks gestation, or weighing less than 400 grams.

Source data

Notes
1. Duration of pregnancy was not stated for 1 mother with pre-existing diabetes, and 116 women without diabetes in pregnancy.
2. Directly age-standardised to the 2005–2007 maternal population without diabetes in pregnancy.

Source: AIHW analysis of NPDC data.

Source: AIHW analysis of National Perinatal Data Collection data.