The Impact of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus on Motor Development in 12-Month-Old Children Referred to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background :

The development of the brain during fetal period affects the functioning of the nervous system the whole of the lifetime. Numerous maternal disorders during pregnancy can affect fetal neural development, one of which is gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) can have a long-term negative impact on the fetal neural development. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gestational diabetes on motor development of 12-month-old children.

In this prospective cohort study, 439 pregnant mothers referred to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, who met the inclusion criteria were sampled at 24-28 weeks of gestation. Then these women were followed-up until child birth and after birth until 12 months afterwards. The process of motor development of their children at the age of 12 months was studied using the Age and Stage Questionnaire.

The results of this study showed that among the women who participated in the study, 87 mothers had gestational diabetes. Of the 12-month-old children of the mothers who participated in this study, from 24 children with motor developmental delays, 11 children belonged to GDM mothers (87 women), whereas the rest (11), were born from   the non-diabetic women (352 women). The relative Risk of motor developmental delay in children born to mothers with gestational diabetes was 1.49 (95%, CI = 0.98-1.87).

Conclusion:

 The present study showed that gestational diabetes can be a powerful risk factor for child motor developmental delay (both fine and gross motor skills).