Neonatal Mortality in Infants of Diabetic Mothers

To assess the effects of an educational program emphasizing detection and tight control of maternal glucose levels during pregnancy, the management and outcome of all pregnancies complicated by diabetes mellitus delivered at a county hospital during two time periods, 1978–1980 and 1981–1983, are compared. The prevalence of diabetes during pregnancy was 1.4% between 1978 and 1980 and 2.6% between 1981 and 1983 (P < 0.01). The perinatal death rate decreased for infants of diabetic mothers from 100 per thousand deliveries in 1978–1980 to 32 per thousand in 1981–1983 (P < 0.02). The perinatal death rate for infants of mothers with gestational diabetes was nearly the same as the perinatal death rate for all neonates born in the state in 1981–1983. Congenital anomalies followed by stillbirths were the most frequent causes of perinatal death.