Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Outcome of Pregnancy among Women Attending Antenatal Care Clinic in North Western Nigeria

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. It affects 2-10% of pregnancies and there appears to be a rising trend in its prevalence worldwide. Objective: The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence and risk factors for gestational diabetes as well as the outcome of pregnancy among 207 consecutively recruited pregnant women. GDM was diagnosed according to the WHO criteria. All relevant data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus was relatively high 7.7%. Advancing maternal age (p=0.000), high parity (p=0.000) and previous history of macrosomia (RR=3.056, CI 1.208-7.728, p=0.015) were risk factors for GDM. Multivariate analysis showed that only advance maternal age as a risk factor was statistically significant across all age (p value >0.000). Conclusion: The outcome of pregnancy was favorable among GDM patients. Thus, multidisciplinary management of GDM patients should be upheld.