Weight changes between pregnancies tied to risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

Increase in body mass index after first pregnancy was linked to a higher risk of GDM in the second pregnancy. For women who were overweight or obese in the first pregnancy, loss of BMI units was associated with a reduced risk of GDM in the second pregnancy.

Women who gain body mass index (BMI) units between their first and second pregnancies are at an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the second pregnancy, according to a study published in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Samantha F. Ehrlich, M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanente of Northern California in Oakland, and colleagues examined the relationship between interpregnancy change in BMI and the risk of GDM in a second pregnancy. A cohort of 22,351 women was analyzed to assess the risk of GDM in women gaining or losing BMI units between pregnancies.

The investigators found that women who had GDM in their first pregnancy had an age-adjusted risk of 38.19 percent of GDM in the second pregnancy; whereas, women who did not have GDM in the first pregnancy had a risk of 3.52 percent. Interpregnancy BMI gains were linked to a higher risk of GDM in the second pregnancy (odds ratio [OR], 1.71 for gaining 1.0 to 1.9 BMI units; OR, 2.46 for 2.0 to 2.9 BMI units; and OR, 3.40 for 3.0 or more BMI units), compared to those whose BMI remained stable. For women who were overweight or obese in the first pregnancy, loss of BMI units was associated with a reduced risk of GDM (OR, 0.26 for loss of at least 2.0 BMI units).

“Interpregnancy increases in BMI between the first and second pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of GDM pregnancy,” the authors write.

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