All cases of gestational diabetes should be treated, study finds

NEW YORK As the percentage of women who are overweight increases, so have cases of a form of diabetes that occurs in pregnant women and can put their babies at risk of metabolic disorders.

According to a study of 958 women, six to eight months pregnant with mild gestational diabetes, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, all women with the condition should receive treatment for it. The women were broken into two groups, one that received no treatment and one that received counseling on diet and monitoring of glucose and, in some cases, insulin.

Most babies were born with normal weights, but 14.5% in the group that received no treatment were too large, compared with 7.1% of the babies in the treatment group, who also were less likely to experience birth trauma or have to be delivered by C-section.