A systematic review of selected birth outcomes in diabetic women who received preconception care and/or used multivitamins prior to pregnancy
Abstract
Objective. To conduct a systematic review of published literature on preconception care in pre-existing diabetic women looking at the effect of glycemic control and multivitamin usage on the frequency of spontaneous abortion and birth defects. Methods. Articles were retrieved from Medline (1950–Dec 2007), Cochrane Library (1800–Dec 2007), Academic Search Complete (Ebsco) (Jan 1800–Dec 2007) and Maternal and Child Health Library (1965–Dec 2007). Studies included women with pre-existing, non-gestational diabetes and a comparison group. Participants must have either received preconception care and/or consumed a multivitamin as part of the study. Results. Overall, seven studies met the study criteria and applicability to the study objectives. Four of these reported the frequency of spontaneous abortion. Only one found a statistically significant increased risk of spontaneous abortion among pregnant women who did not receive preconception care compared with those who did receive care, odds ratio 4.32; 95% CI 1.34 to 13.9. Of the seven studies, six reported the frequency of birth defects. Five of these six studies found a significantly increased rate of birth defects among pregnant women who did not receive preconception care compared with those who did receive care, with odds ratios ranging from 1.53 to 10.16. All seven studies based their preconception care intervention on glycemic control. One study also used multivitamins as part of the preconception care. Conclusion. Glycemic control was shown to be useful in reducing the prevalence of birth defects, but not as useful in reducing the prevalence of spontaneous abortion. Insulin regimen options vary widely for the diabetic woman. No author excluded or controlled for women who may have been taking a multivitamin on their own. Due to the small amount of literature available, it is still not known which preconception care option, glucose control and/or multivitamin usage, provides better protection from birth defects and spontaneous abortion for the diabetic woman. An area for future investigation would be glycemic control and the use of folic acid started before pregnancy and the effects on birth defects and spontaneous abortion.
Subject Area
Obstetrics|Gynecology|Womens studies|Public health
Recommended Citation
Garcia, Bobbiejean F, "A systematic review of selected birth outcomes in diabetic women who received preconception care and/or used multivitamins prior to pregnancy" (2008). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI1454300.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI1454300