Gestational diabetes — also known as maternal diabetes — is a type of diabetes that a person develops during pregnancy. As of 2021, gestational diabetes affected about 17% of all births globally.
Women who become pregnant that are over the age of 45, have overweight or obesity, have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a family history of diabetes, or had gestational diabetes in a
Maternal diabetes can raise certain health risks for the mother, including heart disease, postpartum depression, and type 2 diabetes.
Past studies also show that gestational diabetes can negatively impact a child’s health, possibly increasing their risk for childhood asthma, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and neurodevelopmental issues.
Now, new meta-analysis published in the journal
This study found that children born to mothers with gestational diabetes are 28% more likely to have any neurodevelopmental disorder.
They discovered a correlation between gestational diabetes and a heightened risk for autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disabilities, and learning, communication, developmental and motor disorders in the offspring.
For this study, researchers analyzed pooled health data from 202 previous studies, including more than 56 million mother-child pairs.
Of the studies analyzed, 110 studied gestational diabetes and 80 looked at pregestational diabetes, which is when a person has diabetes before becoming pregnant.
Upon analysis, researchers found that children born to women with maternal diabetes had a 28% increased chance of developing any neurodevelopmental disorder. When broken down by neurological conditions, scientists found:
Additionally, scientists reported that children born to women with pregestational diabetes were 39% more likely to develop a neurodevelopmental disorder than children born to women who developed diabetes during pregnancy.
The study authors commented that further research is needed to establish causality and clarify the associations between specific types of diabetes and a higher risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Medical News Today had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Faro, MD, a maternal and fetal medicine specialist at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, about this study.
Faro, who was not involved in this research, commented that the large number of patients in the study makes the findings compelling and worth close consideration.
“Neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD, have previously been observed at higher rates in children with type 1 diabetes, who themselves have elevated blood sugar,” he pointed out.
“This study shows an association between maternal diabetes and neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, which raises the question; could elevated maternal blood sugar play a more direct role in fetal brain development — possibly acting as a
– Jonathan Faro, MD
“That said, I interpreted these findings with caution,” Faro continued. “This was a systematic review and meta-analysis, meaning the researchers gathered and combined data from many other studies to look for overall trends. While this type of study can reveal important patterns, it cannot prove that one thing causes another.”
“We are still only beginning to understand how the human brain develops and what influences that complex process in utero,” he added.
“Pregnancy is a critical time for fetal brain development, metabolic disturbances (like hyperglycemia), have the potential to interfere with this process. Continued research in this area allows us to better characterize how and when these influences occur, and to explore whether certain neurodevelopmental disorders might be preventable or modifiable with improved maternal health,” the physician told us.
MNT also spoke with Megan Oakes, MD, a board-certified OB/GYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach in Long Beach, CA, about this research.
“There is a growing body of literature regarding the long term effects of diabetes in pregnancy — both pregestational and gestational — on children’s health, including metabolism and risk for cardiovascular disease,” Oakes, who was not involved in the current research, said. “Continued efforts on rigorously studying how diabetes in pregnancy influences early programming of a child’s neurodevelopment may give us insights into how to reduce these risks.”
“As we learn more about the long term effects for children born to people with diabetes, I anticipate that we will be able to improve our ability to offer individualized counseling to pregnant people regarding the risks for specific short- and long-term outcomes as well as risk mitigation strategies,” she continued.
“While the findings from the study are certainly thought-provoking, it is important to remember that a key limitation of meta-analyses is that they cannot prove causality,” Oakes cautioned.
“For people who already have diabetes, it can be helpful to meet with a high-risk pregnancy specialist before achieving pregnancy to talk about ways in which we can optimize health during pregnancy and reduce the risk for adverse outcomes for both the pregnant person and baby,” she advised.
