Preconception Hypoglycemia Linked to Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Preconception hypoglycemia is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to a study published online July 29 in PLOS Medicine.

Hanbin Wu, from the Prince of Wales Hospital at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues examined the association between maternal preconception hypoglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes among childbearing-aged women in China in a retrospective cohort study. Data were included for women aged 20 to 49 years who successfully conceived within one year without multiple gestations and had complete information on pregnancy outcomes from the National Free Preconception Checkup Project (4,866,919 women).

Overall, 239,128 women (4.91 percent) had preconception hypoglycemia. The researchers found that women with preconception hypoglycemia had increased inverse probability treatment weighting adjusted odds ratios of preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, and birth defects by 10, 8, 7, and 21 percent, respectively, compared with the group without preconception hypoglycemia, while the odds ratios of medical abortion, miscarriage or early stillbirth, macrosomia, and large for gestational age decreased by 6, 5, 12, and 12 percent, respectively. Among body mass index groups, the associations of maternal preconception hypoglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes varied. For example, women with underweight had a lower risk for medical abortion, miscarriage or early stillbirth, and large for gestational age in association with preconception hypoglycemia.

“Our findings indicated that further attention should be paid to women with hypoglycemia prior to pregnancy, and screening for preconception hypoglycemia might be worth exploring as a means to reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text