Diabetes during pregnancy could affect babies

Published: 14 Nov 2016

diabetes 1

A study led by NUS Medicine’s Dr Cai Shirong found that mothers with gestational diabetes, which develops during pregnancy, are more likely to have babies with attention problems.

The study found that such babies paid more attention to background noise and did not respond as well to odd, infrequent sounds.

This study focused on 473 babies aged between six months and 18 months, 74 of whom were born to mothers with gestational diabetes. The team will follow up with these babies to assess if they do develop attention problems later on, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Singapore has one of the world’s highest rates of gestational diabetes with one in five pregnant women suffering from the condition.

diabetes 2