Gestational diabetes mellitus has adverse impacts on both pregnant women and their fetuses. Pregnant women may suffer from infections and excessive amniotic fluid. For fetuses, it can lead to macrosomia, increasing the risks of difficult labor and birth injuries. It may also cause intrauterine hypoxia, preterm birth and other adverse outcomes, as well as raise the incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia, jaundice and other diseases.
In addition, although blood glucose usually returns to normal after delivery in most cases, about one‑fifth to half of these women may develop type 2 diabetes in middle age. The recurrence rate in subsequent pregnancies can reach one‑third to two‑thirds. Moreover, if blood glucose is not well controlled during pregnancy, the risks of obesity and diabetes in their children will also increase later in life.