[Neonatal morbidity of children of diabetic mothers].

The purpose of the present study was to determine the risk of neonatal morbidity in infants of diabetic mothers in relation to birth weight percentiles, maternal White classification and metabolic control during pregnancy. The subjects consisted of 51 infants of gestational and Type II diabetic women and 148 infants of insulin-dependent diabetic women. The following neonatal symptoms commonly associated with maternal diabetes were analyzed: macrosomia, hypoglycemia, erythremia, hyperbilirubinemia, hypocalcemia, prematurity and hyaline membrane disease. The incidence of the symptoms was as follows: hypoglycemia in the first hour of life 34.3% macrosomia 24.6%, hyperbilirubinemia 23.7%, prematurity 18.1%, hypoglycemia after the first hour of life 16.6%, hypocalcemia 11.1%, erythremia 7.6%, and hyaline membrane disease 2.0%. There were statistically significant differences in the symptoms "hypoglycemia after the first hour of life" and "erythremia" between the birth weight percentile groups, i.e. the incidence of these symptoms increased with higher birth weights. The risk of neonatal morbidity among infants of insulin-treated gestational diabetics was higher than that of infants of diet-controlled gestational diabetic women. The incidence of macrosomia and hypocalcemia was significantly higher in the first group. Newborns of insulin-dependent diabetic women with proliferative retinopathy and/or nephropathy (White class FR) had an increased risk of neonatal morbidity in comparison to infants of White classes B, C, and D, especially with regard to prematurity and associated problems. Neonatal morbidity varies with the quality of metabolic control in women with insulin-dependent diabetes. Infants of poorly-controlled mothers were more often macrosomic and premature than infants of well-controlled mothers.