Fit for delivery is a study performed in collaboration between Sørlandet Hospital and the University of Agder. The main aim of Fit for delivery was to evaluate whether simple dietary advice together with organized physical activities during pregnancy, could influence gestational weight gain and weight retention, serum glucose levels, the child’s birth weight and the prevalence of pregnancy complications. The University of Agder has been responsible for the nutrition part of Fit for delivery.
In total 606 nulliparous were included in the study and randomized into control or intervention group. The intervention group received dietary advice per telephone in addition to attending organized physical activity sessions. A diet score was developed in line with the advice given to the intervention group. The intervention group improved their diet score during the intervention. You can find results from this study under Selected publications.
Funding: Helse Sør-Øst, University of Agder
Project leader nutritional part of study: Nina Øverby
PhD: Elisabet Hillesund
Project leader main study: Linda Sagedal
New Nordic Diet and pregnancy outcomes
There is mounting evidence that maternal diet during pregnancy can influence maternal health and fetal conditions during pregnancy and that a healthy diet in this early phase of life may influence later disease risk. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether adhering to a healthy and potentially sustainable diet during pregnancy would be associated with the mothers’ weight gain during pregnancy and child birthweight in a large pregnancy cohort. We also investigated potential associations between maternal diet and pregnancy complications affecting newborn health such as preeclampsia and preterm birth. The study used data from approx. 70,000 women and their child who participated in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). We constructed a diet score that reflected adherence to a healthy and potentially sustainable Nordic diet and assessed odds ratios for the outcomes with high vs. low diet score. High vs. low diet score was associated with lower odds of excessive gestational weight gain (confined to normal weight women), lower odds of preeclampsia (all women), and lower odds of preterm birth (confined to nulliparous women). Children born to mothers with high diet score had higher mean birthweight than those born to mothers with low diet score. Women with high diet score had lower odds of giving birth to a child with low birthweight, but also higher odds of giving birth to a child with high birthweight compared to women with low diet score. Our findings support the importance of diet and diet quality during pregnancy for important aspects of maternal and child neonatal health.
Funding: University of Agder
Project leader: Nina Øverby
PhD: Elisabet R. Hillesund
Gestational diabetes: Correct identification is necessary to improve future health of pregnant women and offspring
Gestational diabetes considerably increases the risk of health complications for both mother and child, not only during pregnancy and delivery but also later in life. GDM has been defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. In 2017, the Norwegian Directorate of Health released new clinical guidelines for GDM9. Importantly, the new Norwegian2017 criteria for GDM identifies women with a higher risk of adverse outcomes than the WHO2013 criteria. As we now know that about 30-50% of women are missed if only high-risk women are offered the OGTT, the majority of pregnant women are now recommended the OGTT. Screening for GDM is a responsibility for primary antenatal care, and the new guideline implies a higher workload for General Practitioners and midwifes working in the communities. The overall goals of this project are to improve antenatal care in the communities by 1) evaluation of the new clinical guideline’s ability to correctly identify women with GDM, and 2) develop a tool to optimize clinical practice with respect to screening and diagnosis of GDM that balances benefits and harms, which will be advantageous for the pregnant woman and her unborn child in the short and long term, as well as for healthcare providers, and society as a whole. By analysing individual participant data from four Norwegian pregnancy cohorts including 3030 pregnant women, we aim to further improve screening strategies for GDM, balancing benefits and harms for women, children and health care based on new knowledge.
Funding: Helse Sør-Øst (2019)
Project leader: Linda Sagedal, SSHF
PhD: Anam Shakil Rai, co-supervisor: Nina Øverby
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