In a new study, women with lupus exhibited a 2-fold higher risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy) compared to healthy women. However, the condition was not associated with lupus in women who had more than one delivery or birth.

Researchers compared the pregnancies of 695 women with lupus and 4,644 healthy women. Gestational diabetes was prevalent in 2.6% of women with lupus and 1.4% of healthy women. Additionally, women with lupus were more likely to have a cesarean section delivery (31.1%) and experience only 1 delivery (46.7%) versus healthy women (18.1% and 39.9% respectively). Use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) or glucocorticoids (GC) did not make a difference in occurrence of gestational diabetes, with the condition occurring among 2.3% of women taking GC and 2.4% of women taking HCQ.

Early and routine screening for gestational diabetes is important for pregnant women with lupus. Learn more about lupus and pregnancy.

Read the study