Small size at birth and later diabetic pregnancy

Objective: To determine whether small size at birth was associated with an increased risk of diabetes in pregnancy. Methods: Linked birth cohorts were evaluated: that of women born at 37-44 weeks' gestation in 1974, and that of their offspring born 1995-1996, at which time birth certificate data included a checkbox for maternal diabetes. The risk for diabetes was calculated for both a small for gestational age (SGA) group, defined as less than the tenth percentile for gestational age, and an appropriate for gestational age (AGA) group. Results: The relative risk for diabetes in pregnancy among the group that had been small at birth was 3.6 compared with the larger group. This was significant at the P < .001 level. Conclusion: A woman's risk of diabetes during pregnancy is increased if she herself was small at birth.