Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and the Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus Post-Partum – A Prospective Study

Background: The progression rate of GDM to T2DM is alarming and it is expected to increase as the year goes by. The study is aimed at estimating the postpartum incidence of DM amongst GDM women and predict possible risk factors.

Methodology: This was a prospective cohort study that was carried out at the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria. We recruited 101 women using the hospital record from 2018-2019, 46 of them had GDM while 55 did not have GDM. Needed medical information was extracted from the hospital records of the participants. The postpartum DM status of the participants was determined using 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). DM was diagnosed using WHO criteria. All analysis was done using SPSS software version 21.0.

Results: The postpartum incidence of DM (IGT and T2DM) was 72.9% amongst the GDM group compared with 9% of the nGDM group followed for longer than 24 months. The significant risk factors for GDM was family history of diabetes, prior diagnosis of GDM and having GDM during the pregnancy. The relative risk for DM was 4.29, which means that a GDM mother has a 4 times likelihood of developing DM.

Conclusion: Prompt diagnosis and follow-up of GDM women postpartum should be encouraged to curb is rising surge in T2DM.