Effect of individualised nutritional intervention on the postpartum nutritional status of patients with gestational diabetes mellitus and the growth and development of their offspring: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

This study explored the effect of individualised nutritional intervention on the postpartum nutritional status of patients with the growth and development of their offspring. This study included pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) at Hangzhou Women’s Hospital in 2019. At 42 days after childbirth, the HbA1c (95% CI: 0.44-0.56%, p < 0.001), the FPG (95% CI: 0.01–0.26 mmol/L, p < 0.05), 2HPG (95% CI: −0.01–0.73 mmol/L, p < 0.05) and TCH (95% CI: −0.34–0.00 mmol/L, p < 0.05) level of the control group were 0.14, 0.36, and 0.17 mmol/L higher than in the intervention group. There were no differences in TG and HGB between the two groups (all p > 0.05). There were significant differences in the number of macrosomia and neonatal weight between the two groups (both p < 0.05). Differences in WHZ after childbirth were not statistically significant between the two groups (all p > 0.05). Individualised nutritional intervention could improve blood glucose levels 42 days after childbirth and reduce macrosomia incidence in pregnant women with GDM.

Impact statement

• What is already known on this subject? Individualised nutrition intervention can improve blood glucose status and complications during pregnancy, thus improving pregnancy outcomes.

• What the results of this study add? Individual nutrition intervention improved the blood glucose and nutritional status of patients at 42 days postpartum, but there was no difference in the growth and development indicators of their offspring at 0–24 months.

• What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Improve nutritional intervention programs for gestational diabetes, improve blood glucose during pregnancy and postpartum, to improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce the occurrence of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases; Extend the monitoring range of the growth and development of the offspring of gestational diabetes, find the problems and timely carry out the nutritional intervention, to improve the development of the offspring.

Keywords:

• Gestational diabetes mellitus
• growth and development
• individualisation
• nutritional intervention
• nutritional status
• offspring

Acknowledgments

Not applicable.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This work has been carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2000) of the World Medical Association. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Hangzhou Women’s Hospital (2021K11-02). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Author contributions

JT contributed to data collection and drafted the manuscript; LLH contributed to data analysis; XQ contributed to data collection and data interpretation; XHW helped to draft the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no Conflict of Interest for this article.

Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.