Background: Gestational tight glycemic control is critical for women with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Limited data exist on the adoption and retention of diabetes technologies among women in different parity strata.
Methods: We compared T1D management between T1D Exchange clinic registry participants (mean age 28 ± 9 years, 84% white non-Hispanic, and median T1D duration 13 years) who were pregnant at enrollment or year 1 follow-up ("recently pregnant" between 2010 and 2013, n = 214), ever (but not recently) pregnant (n = 1540), and never pregnant (n = 2586). We examined self-reported maternal and fetal outcomes in 130 women who delivered a baby within the last year.
Results: Recently pregnant women had the lowest hemoglobin A1c (6.5% pregnant vs. 7.8% ever pregnant vs. 8.0% never pregnant, P < 0.001). Recently pregnant women reported the highest use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (74% vs. 60% vs. 58%, adjusted P < 0.001) and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) (36% vs.17% vs. 12%, adjusted P < 0.001) therapies compared with ever or never pregnant women, respectively, after adjusting for age, diabetes duration, and socioeconomic status. Among women 18-25 years old, CGM use was highest among recently pregnant women (adjusted P = 0.0022). Never pregnant women 26-45 years old had a higher use of CGM compared with younger counterparts (adjusted P < 0.001). Adverse maternal and fetal outcomes were common.
Conclusions: Despite high uptake levels of advanced diabetes technologies among pregnant women, rates of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes remain high. More studies are needed to determine how these technologies could be best used in pregnancy and postpartum to improve health outcomes among women with T1D.
Keywords: Diabetes management; Glycemic control; Pregnancy; Type 1 diabetes.