Research shows that two-thirds of pregnant women go undiagnosed with a serious medical condition due to inappropriate screening.
A study found that commonly used tests for gestational diabetes — a condition that causes high blood sugar levels and usually occurs in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy — correctly identify only 29 percent of cases.
If left untreated, the condition can lead to complications during pregnancy for both mother and baby, including an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, babies who are larger than normal, and premature birth.
Although rare, it can also lead to stillbirth.
That’s why the NHS recommends that women at risk of gestational diabetes have a screening test called an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in the third and fourth months of pregnancy.
Research has found that commonly used tests for gestational diabetes correctly identify only 29 percent of cases. (Stock photo)
In the UK, as many as half of all midwifery clinics use this informal test to screen patients for the first time. (Stock photo)
Because of the time and preparation required for the test – which requires the mother to fast for 10 hours and undergo two separate blood tests – the study found that a large proportion of healthcare facilities initially used the standard fingerprick blood glucose test.
Only if women test positive on this test are they asked to undergo the more stringent and time-consuming OGTT screening.
In the UK, as many as half of all maternity clinics use this informal test to screen patients for the first time.
However, researchers found that a large number of cases of gestational diabetes were being missed during this two-step process.
When they examined 99 women who were eventually diagnosed with the condition, they found that less than a third were correctly identified as having high blood sugar by the simpler test. The remaining two-thirds were incorrectly given a false negative result and were not offered further screening.
Study author, gynaecologist Kenji Tanimura of Kobe University in Japan, said he hopes it will encourage the use of the more accurate glucose screening methods: “The goal is to protect more mothers and babies from pregnancy and childbirth problems caused by this form of diabetes.”