The number of Korean women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus was 115,646 in 2012, rapidly up by 5.8-folds from 19,799 in 2003. (image: Kobizmedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Health Insurance Service interpreted big data from 2002 through 2012 in South Korea to analyze the impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on postpartum diabetes.
According to the data, the number of women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus was 115,646 in 2012, rapidly up by 5.8-folds from 19,799 in 2003. It means that the rate of pregnant women with the disease out of all expectant mothers accounted for 25.4 percent in 2012, up from 4.8 percent in 2003.
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Of the women who gave birth in 2004, physical conditions of 53,331 mothers who got medical checkups at the service center were analyzed whether obesity before childbirth or diabetes while carrying a baby has an influence on an occurrence of postpartum diabetes.
The result showed that 23.8 percent of women who had been obese before pregnancy and had also had gestational diabetes mellitus were reported to have diabetes within eight years after childbirth.
In addition, women with obesity problems before delivery are more likely to have the postpartum disease even though they don’t have gestational diabetes mellitus compared with women who have normal weight before childbirth but become to have gestational diabetes.
“The analysis demonstrated that prenatal care is very important. Women who are obese are highly inclined to have not only gestational diabetes mellitus but also postpartum diabetes,” said Cho Geum-jun, Doctor of Korea University Guro Hospital. “Therefore obstetricians in local areas should aggressively offer prenatal care programs,” He added.
By Veronica Huh (veronicah@koreabizwire.com)
