Incidence of the respiratory distress syndrome in infants of diabetic mothers--perinatal influences.

This survey of 73 infants of insulin dependent (ID) diabetic mothers and 70 infants of gestational diabetics (GD) born at King George V Memorial Hospital between January, 1968 and December, 1975, showed that all 12 babies with RDS were from the ID group. RDS was the cause of all 6 neonatal deaths and together with the 5 stillbirths gave this high risk group a 15% mortality rate. Since no deaths occurred in the GD group, the overall mortality was 8%. In the 6 years, 1970-1975, RDS occurred 21 times more often in babies of ID mothers than in control babies born to non-diabetics. Babies born to ID mothers were of significantly lower mean gestational age than those born to the GD mothers. Within the ID group, those babies with RDS were of significantly lower gestation than those without and the mean gestation was similar to control babies with RDS. Provided the diabetes is controlled and fetal welfare ensured, later delivery, following documentation of lung maturity, may lower the incidence of RDS and therefore perinatal mortality and morbidity.