A four-year initiative involving staff at Steno Diabetes Center North Denmark (SDCN) and the diabetes pregnancy team at Aalborg University Hospital (AUH) has led to nearly two-thirds fewer premature births among pregnant women with diabetes and a significant reduction in the number of large babies (those with a birth weight more than 15% higher than expected).
Pregnant women with diabetes face an increased risk of complications during pregnancy and at birth when compared to pregnant women without diabetes. They are also more likely to deliver prematurely and to deliver a large baby, both of which carry risks for the child’s health in the short and long term.
In northern Denmark, doctors, nurses, dieticians, and midwives from the Obstetrics and Endocrinology Departments at AUH have worked together with SDCN staff in the hope of reducing these risks for the benefit of both child and mother.
The successes are clear: average blood sugar (Hba1c level) has dropped significantly among pregnant women with diabetes, while the proportion of babies born before 37 weeks has fallen by 64%, and the proportion of large babies by 35%.
Anne Nødgaard Weidemann Sørensen, senior physician in the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at AUH, is pleased with the results and looking ahead to expanding the initiative.
“It is extremely motivating to see that a strong interdisciplinary effort can reduce the incidence of serious obstetric complications among pregnant women with diabetes. And we have already set new goals for the team, as the focus from now on will also include blood sugar regulation before pregnancy.
“So women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, who intend to become pregnant, will be referred to the endocrinological out-patient clinic. We expect that this approach will lead to a further reduction in complications for pregnant women with diabetes.”
Further information
Novo Nordisk Foundation, Judith Vonberg, Communications Specialist, +45 4172 7925, jvo@novo.dk