Obesity is big risk factors for delayed lactation in women with gestational diabetes

By Geoff Michaels, | Health | 0 Comments

According to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition it has been suggested by the researchers that the pre-pregnancy obesity and the older maternal age are among the big risk factors that leads to the delay in lactation for women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

For this study researchers studied 883 racially and ethnically diverse women. They assessed the incidence of delayed milk production among women with a history of GDM, or diabetes during pregnancy. The delayed lactation was observed by the 33 percent of the women, and was associated with pre-pregnancy obesity, older maternal age and insulin treatment for GDM.

The lead author Susana L. Matias, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and the University of California, Davis, Department of Nutrition explains, “Given the potential for breastfeeding to mitigate the higher risk that women with GDM face for developing type-2 diabetes, skilled lactation support is particularly important for obese women with GDM.”