For diabetic women, continuous glucose monitoring can result in better birth weight, glycemic control

Diabetic women whose blood sugar is continuously monitored during pregnancy are more likely to have better glycemic control in the third trimester, and their babies have a lower birth weight and reduced risk of macrosomia, according to research published Sept. 25 in BMJ Online First.

Helen R. Murphy, of Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust in Ipswich, United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a study of 46 pregnant women with type 1 diabetes and 25 with type 2 diabetes, of whom 38 were randomized to receive antenatal care plus continuous glucose monitoring while 33 received standard antenatal care. In the former group, at intervals of four to six weeks throughout the pregnancy, continuous glucose monitoring was used to inform shared decision-making and future therapeutic changes.

At 32 to 36 weeks’ gestation, women in the intervention group had lower mean glycosylated hemoglobin levels compared to the women in the control group, the investigators found. Infants of mothers in the intervention group also had lower mean birth weight standard deviation scores, lower median customized birth weight centiles and a lower risk of macrosomia compared to offspring of the control-group mothers, the researchers report.

“If confirmed by other studies these data have important implications for the antenatal management of women with diabetes as well as the immediate and longer-term health of their infants,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to Medtronic, which donated equipment for the study.Murphy HR, Rayman G, Lewis K, et al. Effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring in pregnant women with diabetes: randomised clinical trial. BMJ. 2008;337:a1680. (Published online 25 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1680.)