One in eight mothers in England is now diagnosed with gestational diabetes, with diagnoses rising by 60 per cent in just five years, according to a major study supported by the Diabetes Data Science Catalyst at the BHF Data Science Centre.
Researchers found that rates of gestational diabetes increased from around eight per cent of pregnancies in 2018 to more than 12 per cent in 2022. Gestational diabetes develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin during pregnancy. Although it often resolves after birth, it is linked to complications including preterm birth and emergency Caesarean section, as well as longer-term health risks for mothers and children.
Researchers analysed records for more than 2.3 million mothers and around 2.8 million births across 184 hospitals, revealing substantial differences by ethnicity and deprivation.
Unequal rises and outcomes
The highest increases in rates reached around 23 per cent in Asian women and 14 per cent in women living in the most deprived areas.
The study also found inequalities in outcomes – Black mothers were more likely to have an emergency Caesarean birth, women in deprived areas were more likely to give birth prematurely, and Asian mothers were more likely to have babies born small for gestational age. In these higher-risk groups, gestational diabetes was linked to a further increased risk of preterm birth.
Rising maternal age, obesity rates and improved data recording may partly explain this increase. But changes to screening introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic did not meaningfully affect the overall trend.
Supporting women during and after pregnancy
Rebecca Reynolds, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said:
“This is the first time we have managed to estimate the number of women with gestational diabetes in the UK. The rising number of women being diagnosed is concerning and impacts on maternity services delivery which are already challenged. Importantly, gestational diabetes also increases risk of future type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so better preventative measures are needed to help support these women post partum.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Clinical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:
“Big data research studies like this, which can now analyse millions of healthcare records, are uncovering a concerning rise in conditions which raise people’s chances of having a future heart attack or stroke. Gestational diabetes often goes away after pregnancy, but it can increase women’s risk of future cardiovascular disease. Healthcare professionals who want to fully understand people’s risk of heart attack and stroke should routinely ask women about risk factors unique to them, such as diabetes or high blood pressure in pregnancy – even if that pregnancy was decades earlier. If you are a woman who has had diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy, it is especially important to attend health checks when invited.”
What this research means
The findings show how routinely collected health data can track changing disease patterns, identify people at greatest risk and inform more targeted maternity and long-term preventive care.
The study involved researchers from King’s College London, the universities of Glasgow and Warwick, and the Diabetes Data Science Catalyst – a partnership between the BHF Data Science Centre, Diabetes UK and Health Data Research UK. The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation, and is published in BMJ Medicine.
