[Diabetes screening among women who gave birth to heavy infants. The result of 128 glucose tolerance tests during puerperium in women who gave birth to infants weighing 4,500 gram or more, and establishing the screening procedures in Danish maternity clinics].

Experience gained from glucose tolerance tests during the puerperium carried out during a period of two years on 129 non-diabetic mothers who had given birth to infants with birth weights of over 4,500 g is presented. Out of 128 completed investigations, only one new case of diabetes was diagnosed. Seven glucose tolerance tests revealed intolerance and six of these were normal on control. No fasting blood sugar levels were over 6.0 mmol/l. These findings correspond to the frequencies of reduced glucose tolerance in a previously published Danish article. In Denmark as a whole, approximately 60% of these women undergo glucose tolerance tests and further 20% are submitted to fasting blood sugar determinations. Glucose tolerance tests during the puerperium based on postprandial blood sugar measurements for two hours is not considered to be suitable as a screening method for diabetes mellitus.