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High risk of stillbirth for women with diabetes
WOMEN with
diabetes are 7 times more likely to have a stillborn baby compared
to other women. These findings will be presented next week at
Diabetes UK’s Annual Professional Conference in Glasgow.
Research looking at 130 pregnancies in Leicester of women with Type
1 diabetes between 1999 and 2006 showed that 3.9% resulted in
stillbirth. This compares to 0.55% according to a report on the
pregnancy outcomes of all women. In addition, the results from
Leicester showed that Caesarean sections (58%) and congenital
malformations in the babies (5.4%) were more than double the norm
(23% and 2%). These findings are consistent with a national enquiry
published in 2007.
Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of leading health charity
Diabetes UK, said:- “Diabetes UK is alarmed by these findings.
Many of the risks these women and their babies face are avoidable if
they receive the appropriate preconception care and are supported to
achieve good blood glucose control during their pregnancy. Sadly it
appears we are making little progress in tackling the problem. It is
unacceptable that women and their babies are exposed to these
dangers unnecessarily.”
Dianne Todd, Specialist Midwife at the University Hospitals of
Leicester NHS Trust, said:- “We have known about the health
issues of pregnant women with diabetes for some time and have, over
the years, made significant improvement in our provision of care and
pregnancy outcomes. These are high risk pregnancies, which may be
further complicated by additional medical and obstetric conditions.
Whilst we work hard to achieve good blood glucose control and a
positive pregnancy outcome for all our women, pregnancy loss is
often unpredictable. Our data is in-keeping with national figures
and previous published reports. It serves to further emphasise the
continuing need for optimum pre-conception and antenatal care.”
Another study of 218 pregnancies of women with diabetes, also
presented at the conference, shows that women with Type 2 diabetes
have a 5-fold increased risk of having a baby with congenital
malformations and more than twice as likely to miscarry compared to
women with Type 1 diabetes.
Dr So Pye, researcher at Leicester General Hospital, said:-
“Our research showed that far fewer women with Type 2 diabetes
planned their pregnancies, received pre-pregnancy counselling or
took folic acid compared to women with Type 1 diabetes. In addition,
the diabetes epidemic means that in the last decade the number of
women with Type 2 diabetes of child-bearing age has dramatically
increased. Type 2 diabetes is mainly managed by GPs who are having
to cope with the complex needs of these women and are having to
develop their expertise in this specialist area.”
To improve the chances of all women with diabetes having a healthy
outcome, Diabetes UK wants to see them:-
o Provided with preconception care and counselling that emphasises
the need to keep tight control of their diabetes.
o Encouraged to take
appropriate doses of folic acid to reduce the risk of defects.
o Informed of the
benefits of breastfeeding and supported to follow this choice after
delivery. |
WHERE THE GAS IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER
NEW
Masterlease survey reveals that companies are more interested in a
positive green image than true carbon and cost reductions.
Most companies’ environmental fleet policies are based upon securing
a positive image for the business rather than having a company-wide
sustainable carbon reduction strategy, according to the latest
research from leading fleet management company Masterlease.
In the survey of more than 159 businesses, 60% of them revealed that
company image was the main reason for taking a green approach to
their fleet, with only 47% stating cost savings as a motivating
factor. There was also clear confusion about how to turn these
green policies into reality. While 70% of respondents said that the
environment was taken into consideration when making fleet
decisions, only 25% said that their companies were actually any good
at reducing their carbon footprint. Almost 1/3rd admitted the
approach to the environment was simply to ‘tick the green box.’
Robert Kingdom, head of marketing & business development at
Masterlease, said the findings were revealing, but not entirely
surprising:- “There is still a lot of confusion among
businesses about the environment which has been revealed in the
survey. It’s ok to focus on the image benefits – there is increasing
evidence that a company’s green credentials are influencing
consumers’ buying decisions and employee engagement. But we argue
that the environment and cost savings go hand in hand and that the
financial business case should not be ignored.
It is positive
to see that so many businesses are considering the environment now
when making fleet decisions but there is little point if this isn’t
resulting in lower carbon emissions and driving down costs. The
research shows that far too many policies fall short by focusing too
heavily on the vehicles and not considering the impact that driver
behaviour can have.”
Whilst over 50% of the respondents felt their companies had made
positive steps in terms of choosing environmentally friendly
vehicles and measuring CO2 emissions, few had made the next step in
terms of looking at the impact of driver behaviour. 38% of the fleet
operators questioned did not monitor driver mileage effectively and
43% said their companies hadn’t implemented changes in working
practices to help reduce employee mileage, such as home working or
video conferencing. The survey revealed that 47% of
fleet operators felt their companies were poor at providing
information to drivers on environmental issues and this was echoed
by the fact that 73% of respondents chose to source their
environmental information from the fleet media, rather than through
their own companies or official Government channels.
“The main reason Masterlease conducted this survey was to
understand what support was needed by business. This research shows
that many would benefit from advice on what practical steps they can
take to turn their green fleet policies into reality and
significantly reduce both their carbon footprint and cost.
The fleet
should be considered as part of a company-wide sustainable carbon
reduction strategy and clear targets should be set in order to
improve their true environmental reputations,” adds Kingdom |
