Evaluation of New Methods for Prediction of Fetal Lung Maturity in Diabetic Mothers

Diabetes is the most common medical complication of pregnancy in the united states four to five percent of pregnancies are complicated by diabetes.

Pregestational diabetes (diabetes diagnosed before pregnancy, type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus) comprises approximately 13 percent of all diabetes in pregnancy, while gestational diabetes ( diabetes with onset or first recognition in pregnancy) comprises the remaining 87 percent . The prevalence of pregestational diabetes has been increasing due to the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in women of reproductive age . The mainstay of the medical management of pregestational diabetes involves frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels with adjustment of diet and insulin therapy to achieve normoglycemia. Normoglycemia is important because maintenance of maternal blood glucose concentration at or near normoglycemic levels decreases the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as miscarriage , congenital anomalies , macrosomia and fetal death.