Comparison of neonatal outcomes in macrosomic infants of diabetic and non-diabetic mothers

Abstract. OBJECTIVE: To compare the neonatal outcomes in macrosomic term infants of diabetic mothers and non-diabetic mothers. METHODS: This is a retrospective survey of all live-born term singletons with a birth weight ≥4000 g, admitted at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital between 2010 and 2013. Data collected for the mothers included age, parity, gestational age, method of glycemic control and mode of delivery. Data for the infants included sex, birth weight, birth length, duration of hospital stay and laboratory tests. Outcomes were compared between infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) and infants of non-diabetic mothers (Non-IDMs). All data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0. RESULTS: One hundred and eleven infant-mother pairs met the inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven were IDMs while 54 were non-IDMs. Seven (12.28%) of the IDMs were delivered vaginally while 50 (87.72%) were delivered via Caesarian section (CS). Seventeen (31.48%) of the non-IDMs were delivered vaginally while 37 (68.51%) were delivered by CS. Respiratory distress was the most common morbidity affecting 52.6% of the IDMs and 40.7% of the non-IDMs. Hyperbilirubinemia was observed in 49.1% of the IDMs and 14.8% of the non-IDMs. Hypoglycemia affected 38.6% of the IDMs and 7.4% of the non-IDMs. Cardiac enzymes were higher in IDMs than in non-IDMs. On average, IDMs had a longer duration of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Macrosomic IDMs in comparison to macrosomic non-IDMs are at an increased risk for adverse neonatal outcomes.

*Corresponding Author: 

Corresponding author: Dr. Rongxiu Zheng, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin 300052, China. E-mail: rxzheng@hotmail.com.