Original Article The Postpartum Metabolic Outcome of Women with Previous Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Background: This study investigated postpartum metabolic abnormality in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and predictive factors for post-partum glucose intolerance. Methods: From March 2001 to February 2003, 127 prior-GDM women underwent a 75g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and metabolic assessment at least six weeks after delivery. To identify the predictors, clinical variables obtained at the time of GDM were compared. Results: The cumulative incidence rates of diabetes mellitus (DM) and abnormal glu-cose tolerance (AGT) i.e. impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose toler-ance, in women with previous GDM were 13.4 % and 29.1%, respectively. Postpartum body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, waist-to-hip ratio and fasting C-peptide were not significantly different among DM, AGT and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) women. However, the C-peptide/glucose score was lower in DM than in AGT and NGT women (p < 0.01). DM or AGT women had highe