Maternal and Fetal Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Narrative Review of Dietary Interventions

Anuja Phalle Devaki Gokhale ^*

• Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with a myriad of materno-fetal complications compromising the mother and child's future health. Dietary interventions are effective in reducing the risk of GDM. However, the effectiveness of these interventions upon diagnosis of GDM on maternal and fetal health remains unexplored. Therefore, this review critically examines existing literature for short-and long-term materno-fetal outcomes of dietary interventions after GDM diagnosis. An extensive literature search through Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science was conducted to include original, full-text articles published in English between 2013 and April 2024. All randomized controlled trials, case-control, prospective cohort studies, and longitudinal follow-up trials that recruited GDM mothers following dietary interventions upon diagnosis were included. This review followed the Narrative Review Checklist by the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. We reviewed eight popular dietary interventions for various short and long-term maternofetal outcomes in women recently diagnosed with GDM and fetal health. Dietary interventions such as Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and low-GI positively affected both short and long-term maternal and fetal outcomes. In contrast, fasting during Ramadan negatively affected maternal and fetal outcomes. Studies with low-carb, high-protein, and calorie restriction reported mixed findings for materno-fetal outcomes. Further, we observed a scarcity of studies exploring the effect of dietary interventions upon being diagnosed with GDM on short and long-term materno-fetal outcomes. Although certain dietary interventions have shown beneficial effects in the past literature, their findings were limited by small sample size, short intervention duration, and inconsistencies in the outcomes and population studied, compromising the quality of evidence. Further, we observed a scarcity of studies exploring the effect of dietary interventions followed after being diagnosed with GDM on long-term materno-fetal outcomes.Dietary interventions followed during 2 nd and 3 rd trimesters after the diagnosis of GDM may be crucial for preventing short and long-term materno-fetal complications; however, there is a lack of strong evidence to support this notion. Future studies are recommended to monitor the long-term maternofetal outcomes of GDM. investigate the curative potential of these interventions on the future health of mothers with GDM and their children.