Ten Years of Optimizing Outcomes for Women With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Pregnancy-The Atlantic DIP Experience.

Abstract

Pregnancy for women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is a time of increased risk for both mother and baby. The Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy program provides coordinated, evidence-based care for women with diabetes in Ireland. Founded in 2005, the program now shares outcomes over its first decade in caring for pregnant women with diabetes. The objective was to assess improvements in clinical outcomes after the introduction of interventions. We retrospectively examined 445 pregnancies in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and compared them over two timepoints, 2005–2009 and 2010–2014. Interventions introduced over that time include: provision of combined antenatal/diabetes clinics, prepregnancy care, electronic data management, local clinical care guidelines, professional and patient education materials, an app, and a web site. Pregnancy outcomes were measured. The introduction of the Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy program has been associated with a reduction in adverse neonatal outcomes. There has been a reduction in congenital malformations (5 to 1.8%; P = .04), stillbirths (2.3 vs 0.4%; P = .09), despite an upward trend in maternal age (mean age, 31.7 vs 33 years), obesity (29 vs 43%; body mass index >30 kg/m2), and excessive gestational weight gain (24 vs 38%; P = .002). These improvements in outcomes occur alongside an increase in attendance at prepregnancy care (23 to 49%; P < .001), use of folic acid (45 vs 71%; P < .001), and sustained improvement in glycemic control. Changing the process of clinical care delivery and utilizing evidence-based interventions in a pragmatic clinical setting improves pregnancy outcomes for women with pregestational diabetes. We now need to target optimization of maternal body mass index before pregnancy and put a greater focus on gestational weight gain through education and monitoring.