Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Its Consequences in Mothers and Offsprings

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common disorders which occured during pregnancy. GDM is not only associated with short-term maternal and fetal adverse outcomes, but also related to a wide range of long-term consequences for both mother and child. Although maternal hyperglycemia often become normal shortly after pregnancy, women with GDM have crucially increased risk of development of type 2 diabetes later in life and the mechanisms are not fully understand. Systematic follow-up of the outcomes related to GDM would be ideal to observe the nature progression of GDM to diabetes and could help to develop preventable targets for intervention. The risks of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes in offspring of mothers with GDM significantly increased 1-7 folds than those whose mothers didn't have GDM. The underlying pathogenic mechanisms behind the impaired metabolic risk profile and other diseases in offspring are unknown, but environmental changes including epigenetic changes induced by exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia and genetic factors may play essential roles. The GDM and Its Consequences for mothers and offsprings (GDMCMO) aims to establish a cohort to follow both maternal and offsprings'short-term and long-term outcomes, including fetal malformations including congenital heart diseases, birth weight, preterm birth, caesarean section delivery, body growth and neurodevelopment after birth, obesity, type 2 diabetes and impaired insulin sensitivity and secretion, lung health and allergic diseases later in life for offspring, as well as future type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors for mother after delivery. Biological samples including blood and tissue samples of mothers and children are also collected during pregnancy and after delivery. We also aim to identify the high-risk population of mother-child pairs who are more likely to develop these adverse consequences, which might help to improve precise intervention and resource saving and provide evidence for preventable targets development.