The Relationship between Number of Pregnancy Cares with Maternal and Neonatal Complications in Mothers with Gestational Diabetes

Introduction: Gestational diabetes increases maternal and neonatal complications. Therefore, this study was performed with aim to examine the effect of the number of pregnancy cares on the reduction of maternal and neonatal complications in women with gestational diabetes. Methods: This cohort study was performed in 2018-2020 on 119 mothers with gestational diabetes in Omolbanin hospital. The subjects in the two groups of pregnancy visits < 10 times and ≥10 times were compared in terms of neonatal complications such as overweight 90%, dystocia and maternal complications like preeclampsia. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software (version 23) and independent t-test and Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Fisher tests. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In this study, among 119 pregnant women with gestational diabetes, 37 (31.09%) were in the group of pregnancy visits ≥ 10 times and 82 (68.90%) in the group of pregnancy visits < 10 times. The number of infants weighing more than 90 percent was 4 (10.8%) in the group of pregnancy visits ≥ 10 times and was 4 (4.9%) in the group of pregnancy visits < 10 times, which had no statistically significant difference (P=0.2). Mean fasting blood sugar of mothers in third trimester was 91.22 ± 75.14 mg/dl in the group of pregnancy visits ≥ 10 times and was 93.65 ± 30.23 mg/dl in the group of pregnancy visits < 10 times, which was similar in both groups (P=0.2). Also, the incidence of preeclampsia was 3 (6.2%) in the group of pregnancy visits ≥ 10 times and 5 (8.1%) in the group of pregnancy visits < 10 times, which was similar in the two groups (P=0.8). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of other maternal and neonatal consequences. Conclusion: Increasing the number of pregnancy visits in women with gestational diabetes does not improve the maternal and neonatal outcomes.