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Postpartum Screening Following GDM: How Well Are We Doing?

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Abstract

Once diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a woman has a sevenfold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes relative to women who do not have diabetes during pregnancy. In addition, up to one third of women with GDM have overt diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, or impaired glucose tolerance identified during postpartum glucose screening completed within 6 to 12 weeks. Therefore, the American Diabetes Association, the World Health Organization, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists currently recommend postpartum glucose screening following GDM. However, despite this recommendation, in many settings the majority of women with GDM fail to return for postpartum glucose testing. Studies conducted to date have not comprehensively examined the health care system, the physician, or the patient determinants of successful screening. These studies are required to help develop standard clinical procedures that enable and encourage all women to return for postpartum glucose screening following GDM.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Center on Minority and Health Disparities/National Institutes of Health (R01MD004251-02).

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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Correspondence to Kelly J. Hunt.

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Hunt, K.J., Logan, S.L., Conway, D.L. et al. Postpartum Screening Following GDM: How Well Are We Doing?. Curr Diab Rep 10, 235–241 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-010-0110-x

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