OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between neonatal delivery weight and future risk of maternal type 1 or type 2 diabetes.METHODS: Data included in the Swedish Medical Birth Registry and Swedish National Diabetes Registry were merged to include all women born during 1930-1989; patients with pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes were excluded. Cox regression analyses were performed to identify associations between the neonatal delivery weight from the most recent pregnancy and later occurrence of diabetes.RESULTS: There were 1 873 440 patients included in the analyses. An increased risk of type 1 (hazard ratio 3.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.23-4.01) or type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio 2.77, 95% CI 2.68-2.87) was observed among patients who had a large for gestational age neonate compared with patients who had neonates within one standard definition of the mean weight for gestational age; the odds of developing type 1 (odds ratio 10.27, 95% CI 7.37-14.31) or type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 8.50, 95% CI 6.01-12.02) within 1 year of delivery was also increased compared with patients who had a neonate within one standard deviation of the mean weight for gestational age.CONCLUSIONS: Delivering a large for gestational age neonate was a potent risk factor for the later development of maternal type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Adult Birth Weight