Maternal and perinatal outcome of Ramadan fasting in women with gestational diabetes

  • Saba Abdullah Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
  • Shumaila Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
  • Saba Mughal Dow University of Health Sciences
  • Mahwish Samuel Holy Family Hospital Karachi
  • Nazli Hossain Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
Keywords: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Pregnancy, Normoglycemia

Abstract

Objective: To compare maternal and perinatal outcome of Ramadan fasting during pregnancy in women with/without gestational diabetes.

Methods: This prospective case-control study was conducted at Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Unit 1 Ruth PKM Civil Hospital & Dow Medical College and Holy Family Hospital, Karachi during 1st April to 31st July, 2022. In this study normoglycemic pregnant women and those identified as gestational diabetes(n=52) on oral glucose tolerance test, who fasted during Ramadan were included. Women, on diet control or diet plus metformin were included in the study. Study questionnaire included demographic details, days of fasting, self-reported hypoglycemic episodes. Maternal outcomes included preterm birth, pregnancy induced hypertension. Perinatal outcome included hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, weight of placenta, and apgar score.

Result: Eighty two women were included in the study, gestational diabetes (n=57) and normoglycemic (n=25). Average days of fasting were 16 ±9.0 days (range 5-30). Women with GDM were older (28.6 vs. 26.0 years, p-value=0.034), had raised levels of HbA1c (5.5 vs. 5.1, p-value=0.004), mean FBS (102.8 vs. 84.6 mg/dl, p-value <0.001), mean RBS (135.3 vs. 106.4 mg/dl, p-value <0.001) and had higher BMI at delivery (31.0 vs. 26.6 kg/m2, p-value=0.004). HbA1c (p-value=0.016) and head circumference of baby (p-value=0.038) were found lower in the group who fasted for more than 20 days among normoglycemic pregnant women. No other maternal and neonatal outcomes were found to be significantly affected by Ramadan fasting among pregnant women with/without GDM.

Conclusion: Gestational diabetes do not affect maternal and perinatal outcome among pregnant women.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.2.7332

How to cite this: Abdullah S, Shumaila, Mughal S, Samuel M, Hossain N. Maternal and perinatal outcome of Ramadan fasting in women with gestational diabetes. Pak J Med Sci. 2023;39(2):323-329. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.2.7332

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Saba Abdullah, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi

Postgraduate resident

Shumaila, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi

Postgraduate resident

Saba Mughal, Dow University of Health Sciences

Lecturer, School of Public Health

Mahwish Samuel, Holy Family Hospital Karachi

Postgraduate resident

Nazli Hossain, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi

Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Unit I

Published
2023-02-15
How to Cite
Abdullah, S., Shumaila, Mughal, S., Samuel, M., & Hossain, N. (2023). Maternal and perinatal outcome of Ramadan fasting in women with gestational diabetes. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 39(2). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.2.7332
Section
Original Articles