Invited Commentary: Prenatal Glucose Screening and Gestational Diabetes

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Abstract
Screening for gestational diabetes has been widely recommended in the United States (1). However, this relative consensus is not shared by everyone (2–5). One difficulty is that gestational diabetes is not a disease per se. It is an abnormal laboratory value, defined as glucose intolerance first detected during pregnancy. Furthermore, the criteria for glucose intolerance vary (1). There is reasonably good evidence that gestational diabetes is associated with fetal macrosomia (high birth weight) and with an increased risk of onset of diabetes in later life (6). However, the latter is probably also true for glucose intolerance occurring in nonpregnant women and in men and thus is not specific to gestational diabetes (4).