Reducing Birth Defect Risk

ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Doctors recommend all women take a multivitamin in the months before becoming pregnant. Now, a new study finds this recommendation could be especially beneficial to diabetic moms. The research finds women with diabetes who take a multivitamin before and during pregnancy reduce their risk of having children with birth defects.

Diabetic moms are at an increased risk for birth defects including heart and central nervous system defects. Recent studies have suggested taking antioxidants and vitamins during the preconception period could reduce the risk of birth defects. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta conducted a study to evaluate whether diabetic women who take a multivitamin before they become pregnant can reduce their risk of having a child with a birth defect.

For the study, investigators identified more than 3,200 women with diabetes who had a child born with a birth defect. They also included more than 3,000 women who had children without birth defects. Researchers looked at who took multivitamins from three months before pregnancy through the first three months of pregnancy.

The study showed children who were born to diabetic mothers had an increased risk for selected birth defects. However, the increased risk was limited to children of mothers who had diabetes and who had not taken multivitamins before and during pregnancy. The babies born to diabetic mothers who had taken multivitamins had no increased risk for birth defects.

Authors of the study conclude the recommendation that all women who are capable of becoming pregnant should take vitamins daily may be particularly important for women with diabetes. They note two thirds of pregnancies are unplanned. They add that their study points to potentially important prevention implications for women with diabetes during pregnancy.

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