Association of Heamoglobin Concentration during Pregnancy with Gestational Diabetes

The prevalence of gestational diabetes is rapidly rising, ranging from 9 to 26% of pregnancies globally. Muchevidence has shown that hyperglycemia during pregnancy not only increases perinatal morbidity and mortality in both mothers and children but also increases features of disease later. A case control study carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Al-Elwiya Teaching Hospital in Baghdad-Iraq during a period of one year from 1st of December 2021 till end of November 2022. It included 80 pregnant women with singleton pregnancy with viable fetus and gestational age ≥28 weeks and receiving iron supplement from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy or earlier. They were divided into two groups: Case group included 40 pregnant women who had diagnosed with gestational diabetes and control group included 40 healthy pregnant women without any complaint matched with the case group in age and gestational age. First trimester hemoglobin level taken from the medical records during antenatal care. In our study, Pregnant women with gestational diabetes had significantly higher mean of first trimester hemoglobin level compared with controls (12.04g/dl versus 10.99g/dl, p=0.001). First trimester hemoglobin level was found to be significant independent risk factor for greater likelihood of gestational diabetes. Higher hemoglobin level during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of gestational diabetes.