NCD Prevention Begins in the Womb
By Priya Matzen and Nicolai Lohse
As little as 10 years ago, the prevailing wisdom held was that the major chronic diseases of Westernized societies were due to poor lifestyle choices or genetic inheritance. But recent research indicates that adverse environmental conditions in the womb – undernutrition, overnutrition or exposure to harmful toxins as a result of maternal malnutrition, obesity, stress, smoking, etc. – is an equal, if not more, significant determinant of a person’s future vulnerability to non-communicable diseases.
Diabetes during pregnancy, with its associated high blood glucose levels and link to maternal obesity, creates such an adverse environment and is a condition that poses a significant risk to both mother and child if it is not detected and managed. Diabetes often occurs for the first time during pregnancy, so-called gestational diabetes. Babies of mothers with diabetes are typically larger, which contributes to health problems like damage to shoulders during birth, low blood glucose at birth, a higher risk of breathing problems, and the need for delivery by caesarean section. Gestational diabetes is also associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and pre-term delivery.
