Gestational Diabetes Mellitus And Obesity: An Experience At A Teaching Hospital In Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Objective: To compare the frequency of gestational diabetes mellitus in second and third trimester in obese and non-obese women.Methodology: It was a prospective study conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur. Sixty two obese and 62 non-obese women with singleton pregnancy were included in the study at their booking visit at similar to 14-20 weeks of gestation. Women having family history of obesity and chronic ailments and those with age >35 or parity >5 were excluded.Results: Mean age was 28.12 +/- 2.72 years among the group of obese women as compared to 27.89 +/- 2.34 years in non-obese group. Commonest parity among the obese women was 3-4 (n=31, 50%) compared to 46.8 % (n=29) in non-obese group. Development of gestational diabetes mellitus was 22.58% (n=14) in obese group which was significantly higher than 6.45% (n=4) in non-obese group (p=0.001).Conclusion: Gestational diabetes mellitus developed in significantly higher number of obese women as compared to non-obese women.