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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Pediatric Endocrinology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1634074

Evaluating the Association Between Gestational Diabetes and Neonatal Hypoglycemia in Taiwan: A Retrospective Study of 2,149 Pregnancies

Provisionally accepted
Shiang-Hua ChangShiang-Hua Chang1Pei-Hsiu HsinPei-Hsiu Hsin1Jia-Juen LinJia-Juen Lin2Yi-Sun YangYi-Sun Yang1Shih-Chang LoShih-Chang Lo2Chien-Ning HuangChien-Ning Huang2Yu Hsun WangYu Hsun Wang2Edy KorneliusEdy Kornelius1*
  • 1School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 2Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

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Objective: To determine whether gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an increased risk of neonatal hypoglycemia and adverse neonatal outcomes in a Taiwanese population. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 2,149 women who delivered at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital from 2019 to 2023. GDM was diagnosed by one-step 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Neonatal hypoglycemia was defined as blood glucose <45 mg/dL. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for neonatal outcomes associated with GDM, adjusting for maternal age, body mass index (BMI), and parity. Other neonatal outcomes included preterm birth, low Apgar scores (≤7 at 1 or 5 minutes), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, or neonatal jaundice. Results: Of 2,149 pregnancies, 591 (27.5%) were diagnosed with GDM. Neonatal hypoglycemia occurred in 176 newborns (8.2%). The incidence of hypoglycemia was slightly lower in infants of GDM mothers (6.8%) compared to those of non-GDM mothers (8.7%), but this difference was not statistically significant (adjusted OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.48–1.02). GDM was also not significantly associated with other neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth, low Apgar scores, NICU admission, or neonatal jaundice, after adjusting for confounders. Conclusions: In this Taiwanese cohort with universal GDM screening and management, GDM was not linked to a higher risk of neonatal hypoglycemia or other immediate neonatal complications. These findings suggest that effective prenatal care and glycemic control may mitigate the neonatal risks traditionally associated with GDM, underscoring the importance of management and population-specific factors in outcomes.

Keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus, Neonatal hypoglycemia, Neonatal outcomes, Pregnancy, Retrospective cohort, Taiwan

Received: 23 May 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chang, Hsin, Lin, Yang, Lo, Huang, Wang and Kornelius. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Edy Kornelius, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material