National screening for gestational diabetes urged

A “substantial” but also avoidable hindrance on maternity service budgets that damages newborns’ health is only going to get worse unless a universal screening plan is imposed.

That is according to the leading maternity experts who carried out the first national financial study on the impact of gestational diabetes.

The condition, which affects one-in- eight women per year, often begins in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.