SWEET Mum + Baby Study

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a condition characterised by high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Babies born to mothers with GDM are vulnerable to both short- and long-term health problems, with significantly higher odds of: preterm delivery; admission to the special care nursery; hypoglycaemia; large for gestational age; respiratory distress syndrome; and congenital malformations. These often result in separation of mother and baby, difficulties with breastfeeding, and birth injuries. These babies are not only at increased risk of becoming sick in the neonatal period, but also experience complications into child- and adulthood, including increased risk of anaemia, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, obesity, cardiovascular disorders and neurocognitive impairment.

 

GDM is the fastest growing type of diabetes in Australia. In the past decade, the proportion of mothers diagnosed with GDM has more than tripled, with 1 in 6 women who gave birth in Australia during 2021-22 being diagnosed with GDM and an estimated $71.6 million health system expenditure attributed to GDM in 2020-21. Disadvantaged populations have a higher incidence of GDM. WA data show admission to special care nursery for babies born to mothers with GDM has risen from 22% in 2018 to 28% in 2022. Additionally, there is a growing clinical concern over an increasing number of mothers opting out of GDM screening. ​​​

​

There is an urgent need to better understand the prevalence GDM and who is most impacted, GDM test uptake, and importantly the impact on babies health outcomes in those that are GDM positive, negative and not tested.

​​

Sweet Mum + Baby Study aims to explore perinatal outcomes for babies born to women diagnosed with GDM and for those who declined GDM screening over the past five years in WA’s largest maternity service, Women and Newborn Health Service, King Edward Memorial Hospital.​ This groundbreaking study on GDM and its impact on newborn health is the most comprehensive of its kind in Western Australia.

​

This study will also explore the experiences of mothers with GDM and the observed health outcomes for their newborns, while assessing the long-term implications of declining GDM screening on mother-baby health, feeding practices, and future vulnerability to chronic conditions.​ This study will not only shed light on the consequences of declining GDM screening but also pave the way for improved antenatal screening, care and early intervention strategies.

​

The Sweet Mum + Baby Study objectives will be addressed through a multi-methods approach over 3 phases:

1. Describe and compare perinatal outcomes for babies born to women with diagnosed GDM compared to outcomes from mothers who decline GDM screening in the largest maternity service in WA in the last five years.

2. Explore GDM women’s experiences and observed outcomes for neonates.

3. Determine the implications of declined screening on maternal/neonate dyad, feeding and vulnerability to longer-term health outcomes in WA.

​

Sweet Mum + Baby Study was recently featured in Diabetes WA

​

​

​