Yael Bar-Zeev, M.D., of the Hadassah Medical Organization at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, and colleagues conducted a study that revealed a significant association between prenatal smoking and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). The study utilized data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) between 2009 and 2015, involving 222,408 women, to assess the impact of prenatal smoking on the development of gestational diabetes.
The researchers found that both mothers who smoked the same number of cigarettes or greater and those who reduced their number of cigarettes had higher odds of gestational diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratios, 1.46 and 1.22, respectively). These results were consistent across all subgroups based on prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain, reinforcing the consistent impact of smoking on gestational diabetes risk.
“Reducing smoking during pregnancy may reduce the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and could serve as an additional approach towards promoting smoking cessation among pregnant women,” the authors write.
