One in ten new mothers suffer from gestational diabetes
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Diabetes that breaks out in a woman during pregnancy is rapidly becoming more commonplace in Finland. The condition is diagnosed in more than one in ten pregnant women, and local variations are considerable.
The condition is most widespread in South Savo, where one in four expectant mothers experience the onset of diabetes while pregnant.
Gestational diabetes is also common in North Karelia, the Päijät-Häme region, South Karelia, Central Finland, and South Ostrobothnia. More than one in six expectant mothers in those areas come down with the disease, and in 500-1,000 cases the disease is so clear that the condition requires drug treatment, estimates Professor Tapani Rönnemaa of the University of Turku. In less severe cases lifestyle changes are enough: more exercise, and a lighter and more moderate diet.
The trend worries doctors, because diabetes that breaks out during pregnancy can cause complications in both the pregnancy itself, and birth. It increases the risk of miscarriage, toxaemia, and premature birth. The foetus can also grow to be so big that the birth itself is more difficult.
The outbreak is also an indication for the mother and the baby of a higher risk of adult diabetes. It can be prevented through lifestyle choices, weight control, and regular exercise.
Many Finns have a congenital risk of diabetes. During pregnancy the onset of disease can be triggered by a mother’s lack of exercise, age of more than 40 years, excess body weight, and a previous pregnancy in which the baby weighed more than four kilos at birth.
The averate age of new mothers is increasing, but the problem of excess weight is growing even faster. In 2004 the birth register maintained by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) first started recording the weight of expectant mothers from before the pregnancy began.
The results came as a surprise for many.
One in three new mothers had been overweight before pregnancy. Nearly 40 percent of coming mothers had been overweight in Pirkanmaa and North Ostrobothnia.
Weight gain has also been found to be greater than before, with women putting on an average 14 extra kilos during pregnancy, which is one kilo more than 40 years ago.
Professor Riitta Luoto of the University of Tampere is concerned about the findings. She notes that six of those extra kilos usually remain permanent, increasing the danger of cardiovascular disease.
Luoto is launching a joint study of the University of Tampere and the UKK Institute in the Pirkanmaa region aimed at ascertaining the impact of counselling in exercise and nutrition on the onset of gestational diabetes and weight during pregnancy.
Results of a preliminary study are encouraging, and the state of health of the participants in the actual study will be followed for several years.
One change has already happened: at neonatal clinics mothers, and not just their children, are being weighed.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.6.2006 - TODAY |
 One in ten new mothers suffer from gestational diabetes
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