Daily glucose monitoring linked to smaller babies. (Gestational Diabetes).

WASHINGTON -- Women with gestational diabetes who monitored their own blood glucose levels four times a day during pregnancy gained less weight and delivered smaller babies than women who had weekly glucose monitoring at a clinic, according to results of a retrospective cohort study.

Although cesarean deliveries for dystocia, shoulder dystocias, and brachial plexus injuries were similar between the two groups, use of daily home glucose monitoring was clearly associated with less macrosomia, Kristie Moss said at the annual meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.

"The use of home glucose monitors in women with gestational diabetes offers immediate and more complete feedback to patients as well as to nutrition counselors," said Ms. Moss, a fourth-year medical student and Doris Duke Fellow at the University of Texas, Dallas. "We believe that this feedback translates into better dietary practices overall and less weight gained each week when compared with similar women who don't use home glucose meters."

The study included 1,536 women with gestational diabetes who received care at the gestational diabetes clinic at the Parkland Hospital in Dallas from 1991 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2002. All of the ...