Gestational Diabetes and Breastfeeding Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Studies of gestational diabetes mellitus in relation to breastfeeding are limited, while their findings are inconsistent. This systematic review was conducted to assess the associations between gestational diabetes and breastfeeding outcomes. An initial search of PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest identified 518 studies, and after applying the inclusion criteria, 16 studies were finally included in the review. Four studies reported that “exclusive/predominant/full breastfeeding” rates at discharge were lower in mothers with gestational diabetes than in those without gestational diabetes, and 2 studies showed a shorter duration of “exclusive/predominant breastfeeding” in the former than in the latter. However, most studies found no apparent difference in the rate of “breastfeeding initiation”, “any breastfeeding” duration, or “any breastfeeding” in hospital and at discharge between mothers with and without gestational diabetes. In summary, mothers with gestational diabetes were less likely to exclusively breastfeed their infants and may have a shorter breastfeeding duration than other mothers.

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Interpregnancy Weight Change and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3506153 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jose Alberto Martínez-Hortelano ◽

Ivan Cavero Redondo ◽

Celia Alvarez ◽

Ana Díez-Fernández ◽

Montserrat Hernández-Luengo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Gestational Diabetes ◽

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Weight Change ◽

Meta Analysis

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Breastfeeding Duration and Development of Dysglycemia in Women Who Had Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Evidence from the GUSTO Cohort Study

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13020408 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 408

Author(s):

Sumali S. Hewage ◽

Xin Yu Hazel Koh ◽

Shu E. Soh ◽

Wei Wei Pang ◽

Doris Fok ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Gestational Diabetes ◽

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Tolerance Test ◽

Diabetes Risk ◽

Breastfeeding Duration ◽

Oral Glucose ◽

Inverse Association ◽

Index Pregnancy

(1) Background: Breastfeeding has been shown to support glucose homeostasis in women after a pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and is potentially effective at reducing long-term diabetes risk. (2) Methods: Data from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study were analyzed to understand the influence of breastfeeding duration on long-term dysglycemia (prediabetes and diabetes) risk in women who had GDM in the index pregnancy. GDM and dysglycemia four to seven years postpartum were determined by the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A Poisson regression model with a robust error variance was used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for dysglycemia four to seven years post-delivery according to groupings of the duration of any breastfeeding (<1, ≥1 to <6, and ≥6 months). (3) Results: Women who had GDM during the index pregnancy and complete breastfeeding information and OGTT four to seven years postpartum were included in this study (n = 116). Fifty-one women (44%) had postpartum dysglycemia. Unadjusted IRRs showed an inverse association between dysglycemia risk and ≥1 month to <6 months (IRR 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57, 1.43; p = 0.68) and ≥6 months (IRR 0.50; 95% CI 0.27, 0.91; p = 0.02) breastfeeding compared to <1 month of any breastfeeding. After adjusting for key confounders, the IRR for the ≥6 months group remained significant (IRR 0.42; 95% CI 0.22, 0.80; p = 0.008). (4) Conclusions: Our results suggest that any breastfeeding of six months or longer may reduce long-term dysglycemia risk in women with a history of GDM in an Asian setting. Breastfeeding has benefits for mothers beyond weight loss, particularly for those with GDM.

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