BIVDA member, Digostics, have partnered with Medway NHS Trust to offer a new test that women can carry out in the comfort of their home to screen for gestational diabetes during pregnancy.
The remote oral glucose tolerance testing kit, known as GTT@home, is offered to those who have been identified by their midwife as being at higher risk of developing the disease. By home testing, women can test at their convenience and still get rapid results, freeing up hospital clinic time and resources.
Gestational diabetes, which affects up to 20 per cent of UK pregnancies, occurs because of high blood sugar (glucose) and usually develops in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. It is associated with a number on background factors such as a high body mass index (BMI), ethnicity and the age of the expectant mother. Undiagnosed or untreated, it can lead to complications during pregnancy including premature birth, preeclampsia (which causes high blood pressure) and increased growth of the baby.
