Intake of Hormonal Contraceptives Linked to Risk of Gestational Diabetes: Study

Women who use hormonal contraceptives have 40 percent increased chances of developing gestational diabetes, according to study.

Researchers at the Missouri department of Health and Senior Services examined health records of 2,741 women to note the association between contraceptive use and diabetes during pregnancy. Around 8.3 percent of the total participants were diagnosed with gestational diabetes and 17.9 percent of them reported using hormonal contraception, reports the Healio.com.

The subjects' contraception methods involved pills, injections, patches and intrauterine devices. Hormonal contraceptives were the commonly sought birth control methods among the participants that works by alerting body's endocrine system to avoid pregnancy. Compared to women who used other forms of birth control, the likelihood of having gestational diabetes was 1.43 times higher for those on hormonal contraception. The risk rates varied according to the age, race and body weight.

Women aged above 30 had 1.5 times more possibility of getting diabetes after conceiving. Respondents who identified self as non-white and from other ethnic groups were 5.54 percent likely to have gestational diabetes compared to white-American women. Obese women or those who were overweight before pregnancy also had 3.04 higher odds of getting the condition.

"Although researchers have not established a causal relationship between hormonal contraception use and gestational diabetes, results of our study suggest there may be an underlying correlating mechanism. More research is needed to assess hormonal contraception use as a potential risk factor," write the authors in the study, reports the Healio.com

The American Diabetes Association urges women to keep tan of their blood sugar levels before planning pregnancy to avoid long-term health repercussions. Past clinical researches have linked mothers' gestational diabetes to obesity, heart diseases and birth defects in children.

More information is available online in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.