Queen's University Belfast

Academic Institute

Hannah O'Hara

E077

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is diabetes first diagnosed in pregnancy and usually resolves after birth. Pregnancies affected by GDM are more likely to suffer complications including excessive birth weight and preterm birth. Women affected by GDM are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (T2DM) later in life and for this reason are recommended to undergo screening for T2DM annually after they have their baby. The condition is usually tested for in pregnancy using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). However, this involves a prolonged visit to hospital and during the COVID-19 pandemic this form of testing was temporarily halted in favour of a one-off blood test. Reports of the effect of these alterations on rates of GDM diagnosis and pregnancy complications have been varied, with studies often applying criteria to patients who were pregnant before the pandemic to explore differences rather than reporting the women who were actually undergoing the tests. This study aims to explore the effect of changing GDM diagnostic techniques during the pandemic on rates of GDM diagnosis within Northern Ireland, rates of pregnancy complications, and quality of recommended follow-up for women with GDM.

This work will add to the body of knowledge about how alterations in antenatal care during the pandemic have affected pregnancy outcomes and whether there are any subgroups of women who have been disproportionately affected. A history of GDM is considered a risk factor for future GDM as well as future cardiometabolic disease. With an awareness of the possibility that a proportion of women may have had undiagnosed GDM, it will allow women who were pregnant during this time and their clinicians to consider the potential of these conditions in their ongoing care.

16/09/2022

TRE