Preconception Care Reduces Birth Defects In Offspring Of Diabetic Women.

2001 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A Canadian review of several studies reports preconception care and glycemic control during the first trimester can reduce the odds of congenital anomalies in infants of mothers with diabetes mellitus.

Researchers in Ontario, Canada, led by J.G. Ray of Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center in Toronto, compiled and analyzed data from several independent studies of diabetes and pregnancy outcomes before drawing this conclusion.

"In 14 cohort studies, major congenital malformations were assessed among 1192 offspring of mothers who had received preconception care, and 1459 offspring of women who had not," described Ray and coworkers in QJM.

The rate of major congenital malformations was 6.5% among females with diabetes mellitus who had not received preconception care but only 2.15 among females who had received care, according to investigators' analyses of the pooled data.

In addition, pooled data from nine studies showed that both major and minor birth defects were less prevalent among women who had received preconception care and in women with evidence of better glycemic control during the first three months of pregnancy, as determined by serum values for glycosylated hemoglobin ("Preconception care and the risk of congenital anomalies in the offspring of women with diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis," QJM, 2001;94(8):435-444).

"Women who received preconception care were, on average, 1.8 years older than non-recipients, and fewer smoked (19.6% vs. ...