The Relationship Between Maternal Glucose Tolerance and Fetal Size at Birth

Summary: Two thousand consecutive patients have been studied to investigate the association between maternal glucose tolerance during pregnancy and fetal size at birth. It was shown that the incidences of small for dates (SFD) and low birth weight (LBW) babies were significantly increased when there was maternal hypoglycaemia (P<0.001), particularly when this occurred at the 3‐hour reading of the test. This finding has therapeutic implications. The incidences of large for dates (LFD) and high birth weight (HBW) babies were not related to the degree of maternal hyperglycaemia. Glucose is essential for fetal growth, but does not appear to be the cause of excessive fetal size.