Objective: Gestational diabetes (GDM) is closely related to birth weight. Heavy-for-date (HFD) infants, especially those with macrosomia, cause many perinatal complications. This study was performed to examine the backgrounds of HFD infants and to determine such infants' relationship with GDM.
Method: Eighty cases of HFD infants who were delivered from 1996 through 1998 were analyzed. The random blood-glucose level was used for screening for GDM.
Results: Maternal body weight and the body-mass index before pregnancy and at delivery and the blood glucose level at the second trimester were positively correlated with birth weight. However, only 8.8% of HFD cases were detected by this screening method in the first trimester, and 11.3% of HFD cases were detected in the second trimester and only 1 case of borderline-type was detected by subsequent 75-g OGTT.
Conclusions: Maternal obesity is an independent and more important risk factor for HFD infants than glucose intolerance.