MANAGEMENT OF INFANTS OF DIABETIC MOTHERS

Objective: To describe the clinical outcome of infants born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and preexisting insulin-depe ndent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Setting: A tertiary care regional peri natal center with a specialized diabetes-in-pregnancy program. Design: Case series. Results: Five hundred thirty infants were born to 332 wo men with GDM and 177 women with IDDM. Thirty-six percent of these 530 newborns were large for gestational age, 62% were appropriate for gest ational age, and only 2% were small for gestational age. Seventy-six ( 14%) of all infants were born before 34 weeks' gestation, 115 (22%) be tween 34 and 37 weeks of gestation, and 339 (64%) at term. Two hundred thirty-three infants (47%) were admitted to the neonatal intensive ca re unit due to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), prematurity, hypog lycemia, or congenital malformation. Hypoglycemia (more common among i nfants of maternal diabetic classes C through D-R) was documented in 1 37 (27%) of all newborns. One hundred eighty-two infants (34%) had RDS of var)ring severity. Polycythemia (5% of infants), hyperbilirubinemi a (25%), and hypocalcemia (4%) were other morbidities present. Two hun dred forty-four infants were admitted for routine care and enteral fee dings. Forty-three of these newborns required subsequent transfer to t he neonatal intensive care unit for treatment of hypoglycemia (16 case s), RDS(19 cases), or both (8 cases). Routine care failures were more common among infants whose mothers had advanced diabetes, but less fre quent among breast-fed infants. Conclusions: With modern management, f ewer morbidities can be expected in infants of diabetic mothers. Those infants born to women with IDDM remain at risk for hypoglycemia, whic h can be treated in one half of the cases by enteral feedings alone. T he majority of cases of RDS are mild and require short admissions to s pecial care nurseries. Optimal care of infants of diabetic mothers is based on prevention, early recognition, and treatment of common condit ions. Severe congenital malformations, significant prematurity, RDS, r ecurrent hypoglycemic episodes, and asymptomatic infants of women with advanced IDDM should be admitted to special care nurseries. Breast-fe eding among women with GDM and IDDM should be encouraged.