Maternal and neonatal glycaemic control after antenatal corticosteroid administration in women with diabetes in pregnancy: A retrospective cohort study

Objective To describe maternal and neonatal glycaemic control following antenatal corticosteroid administration to women with diabetes in pregnancy. Design Retrospective cohort study Setting A tertiary hospital in Auckland, New Zealand Population Women with diabetes in pregnancy who received antenatal corticosteroids from 2006–2016. Methods Corticosteroid administration, maternal and neonatal glycaemia data were retrieved from electronic patient records. Demographic data were downloaded from the hospital database. Relationships between variables were analysed using multivariate analysis. Main outcome measures Maternal hyperglycaemia and neonatal hypoglycaemia Results Corticosteroids were administered to 647 of 7317 of women with diabetes (8.8%) who gave birth to 715 babies. After an initial course of corticosteroids, 92% and 52% of women had blood glucose concentrations > 7 and > 10 mmol/L respectively. Median peak blood glucose concentration of approximately 10 mmol/L occurred 9 hours after corticosteroid administration and hyperglycaemia lasted approximately 72 hours. Thirty percent of women gave birth within 72 hours of the last dose of corticosteroids. Babies of women who were hyperglycaemic within 24 hours of birth were more likely to develop hypoglycaemia (< 2.6 mmol/L, OR 1.51 [95% CI 1.10–2.07], p = 0.01) and severe hypoglycaemia (≤ 2.0 mmol/L, OR 2.00 [95% CI 1.41–2.85], p < 0.0001) than babies of non-hyperglycaemic mothers. There was no association between maternal glycaemia within 7 days of the last dose of corticosteroids and neonatal hypoglycaemia. Conclusions Hyperglycaemia is common in women with diabetes in pregnancy following antenatal corticosteroid administration. Maternal hyperglycaemia in the 24 hours prior to birth is associated with increased risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia. Limitations included the retrospective study design, so that not all data were available for all women and babies and the glucose testing schedule was variable.