Hypoglycemia in Exclusively Breastfed High-Risk Neonates - A Hospital-Based Study
Hypoglycemia in Exclusively Breastfed High-Risk Neonates - A Hospital-Based Study
Hypoglycemia in Exclusively Breastfed High-Risk Neonates - A Hospital-Based Study
Pediatric Research
Original Research
*Corresponding author: Dr. Parth Patel, Department of Pediatrics, Room no. 1, Above Private B, Nazareth Hospital,
Laitumkhrah, Shillong, Meghalaya - 793003, India
Citation: Patel P, Gogoi PR, Deb S, Paul P, Yesmin S, et al. (2020) Hypoglycemia in Exclusively Breast-
fed High-Risk Neonates - A Hospital-Based Study. Int J Pediatr Res 6:066. doi.org/10.23937/2469-
5769/1510066
Accepted: July 14, 2020: Published: July 16, 2020
Copyright: © 2020 Patel P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
an important priority to prevent hypoglycemia in new- al age (SGA) infants (birth weight less or equal to the
born infants [3]. Certain risk groups, including small for 10th percentile for gestational age), large for gestation-
gestational age infants, preterm infants, and infants of al age (LGA) infants (birth weight more or equal to the
diabetic mothers, are at high risk of hypoglycaemia [4]. 90th percentile for gestational age), low-birth-weight ba-
Prevention, early diagnosis, and prompt treatment are bies (birth weight less than 2500 g), macrosomic infants
important for high-risk infants who develop hypogly- (birth weight more than 4000 g), infant of a diabetic
cemia, to minimize the severity and duration of hypo- mother (IDM) (maternal type 1 or type 2 diabetes melli-
glycaemic episodes, which are associated with adverse tus or gestational diabetes mellitus), late preterm infant
outcomes [5]. This study aimed to find out the incidence (LPI) (a premature infant born between 34-36 6/7 gesta-
of hypoglycemia in exclusively breastfed, high-risk new- tional week). The birth weight percentiles were adopted
borns, and to study associated risk factors like gender, from the Lubchenco chart [6]. Newborns with a major
gestational age, birth weight, time of onset of the devel- congenital malformation in whom breastfeeding cannot
opment of hypoglycemia. be initiated, who required I.V. fluid, in whom exclusive
Materials and Methods breastfeeding cannot be continued or contraindicated
were excluded. The detailed history of the enrolled ba-
This Cross-sectional, descriptive hospital-based study bies was taken which included various maternal risk fac-
was carried out in the Postnatal ward of Nazareth hospi- tors like GDM, PIH, twin pregnancy, etc, and neonatal
tal, Shillong from 15th January 2019 to 14th July 2019. A risk factors like prematurity, LBW, SGA, etc.
total of 75 newborns were included in the study. Ethical
clearance for conducting the study was obtained from Capillary blood samples were taken after warming
the institutional ethics committee. We included all high- the heels of the babies. Blood glucose concentration
risk healthy newborns who were exclusively breastfed was determined by using the glucometer and test strips
after obtaining informed consent from the mother. (SD CodeFree, SD BIOSENSOR). Capillary blood sugar
The high-risk group was defined as small for gestation- was checked with a portable glucometer at 2 hours, 6
hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours of life mothers had a higher incidence of hypoglycemia than
and recorded. The babies were observed for signs and those of primigravida mothers. Hypoglycemia was
symptoms attributable to hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia found to be more in newborns whose mother’s age was
definition that was used in the study was blood glucose > 30 years than in newborns whose mother’s age was <
level below 40 mg/dl [7]. 30 years at the time of delivery and higher in neonates
who were delivered through cesarean section than the
Following the detection of hypoglycemia, the neo-
vaginal route. These observations were found to be sta-
nates were managed as per institutional protocol. p-val-
tistically significant after applying the tests of propor-
ue < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
tion Table 3.
Results In the present study, out of 38 LBW neonates 24%
During the study period, a total of 758 deliveries oc- (9/38) neonates were hypoglycemic, which was found
curred. Overall 683 cases were excluded from the study: to be statistically significant. (Proportion test, p-value:
502 newborns because of being non-high-risk; 5 new- 0.004). Out of 29 IDM 14% (4/29) neonates were hypo-
borns for having major congenital malformation; 173 glycemic, which was found to be statistically significant.
newborns required I.V fluid; 3 newborns in whom exclu- (Proportion test, p-value: 0.001). Out of 14 Late preterm
sive breastfeeding could not be continued. The popula- neonates 14% (2/14) neonates were hypoglycemic,
tion demographics are depicted in Table 1 and Figure 1. which was found to be statistically significant. (Propor-
Of the 75 high-risk neonates that were enrolled in tion test, p-value: 0.02) Table 4.
this study, 15 neonates developed hypoglycemia in the In the present study, after analyzing the distribution
first 72 hours of life. So, the incidence of hypoglycemia of hypoglycemia and birth weight of the neonates, it
in the high-risk newborns is found to be 20% in this was found that amongst the 38 low birth weight new-
study Table 2. borns, 23.7% (9/38) were hypoglycemic. (Proportion
In the present study, the neonates of multigravida test, p: 0.004). Out of 27 normal birth weight neonates,
Table 2: Characteristics of high-risk neonates that were enrolled in the present study.
Late-term - 1 1.3%
41 wk to 41 wk 6 days
Post-term - 1 1.3%
42 wks and beyond
14.8% (4/27) were hypoglycemic. (Proportion test, p: gestational age, it was observed that among the 14
0.002). Whereas in Macrosomic newborns we did not Late preterm newborns, 14.3% (2/14) were hypoglyce-
see a statistically significant difference. (Proportion test, mic, which was statistically significant. (Proportion test,
p: 0.1) Table 5. p: 0.03). Out of 31 Early term neonates, 22.6% (7/31)
were hypoglycemic, which was statistically significant.
On analysis of the hypoglycemic neonates and their
Table 4: Distribution of hypoglycemia in the high-risk neonates in the present study (n = 75).
Table 5: Distribution of hypoglycemia in the present study according to birth weight of the neonates (n = 75).
Table 6: Distribution of Hypoglycemia in the present study according to gestational age of neoantes (N = 75).
(Proportion test, p 0.007). Among the 28 Full-term new- hours vs. > 24 hours of life). This further reinforces the
borns 17.9% (5/28) were hypoglycemic, which was sta- fact that proper monitoring of blood glucose is highly
tistically significant. (Proportion test, p 0.004) Table 6. essential for the first 24 hrs of life Figure 2.
Out of 15 newborns who developed hypoglycemia, The authors of this study did not find any neonate
all except one neonate developed hypoglycemia by 24 with symptomatic hypoglycemia. None of the neonates
hrs of age: 26.7% (4/15) neonates had hypoglycemia required IV fluid therapy or NICU admission following
at 2 hours of life, 40% (6/15) neonates had hypoglyce- the development of hypoglycemia. All were managed
mia at 6 hours of life, 20% (3/15) neonates had hypo- with frequent breastfeeding as per institutional policy.
glycemia at 12 hours of life, 6.7% (1/15) neonate had
hypoglycemia at 24 hours of life, 6.7% (1/15) neonate
Discussion
had hypoglycemia in at 48 hours of life and none had In the present study, out of 75 newborns, 15 new-
hypoglycemia at 72 hours of life. This observation was borns were found to be hypoglycemic whereas 60 new-
found to be statistically significant (p-value: 0.01 - 1st 24 borns did not have hypoglycemia. Hence the incidence
Figure 2: Detection of hypoglycemia in hours of life in newborns in the present study (n = 75).
of hypoglycemia in exclusively breastfed but high-risk In our study, the incidence of hypoglycemia in male
neonates was 20% (Table 7). neonates was found to be more than female neonates
(27.3 vs. 14.3%). However, when the incidence of hypo-
Various researchers have used different definitions
glycemia was compared with each other it was conclud-
of hypoglycemia, a variety of methods of detection of
ed that hypoglycemia in exclusively breastfed high-risk
hypoglycemia and their studies have used different in-
newborns, did not have any sex predilection (p: 0.45).
clusion and exclusion criteria for their studies. Hence we
This observation was similar to the studies conducted
see a wide variation in the incidence figures. Population
by Saini A, et al. [10] from Haryana, India in the year
characteristics may also have led to variation in the fig-
2018, and a study conducted by Jonas D, et al. [20] from
ures of incidence.
Feldkirch, Austria the year 2014.
The relatively high incidence of hypoglycemia in this
We found that the incidence of hypoglycemia in
study amongst exclusively breastfed high-risk neonates
newborns was higher when maternal age was more
born in a tertiary care hospital in Meghalaya could be
than ≥ 30 years, but the results were different from the
attributed to certain population characteristics such as
study conducted by Kumar TJ, et al. [9] in the year 2018,
the high prevalence of multiparity and elderly gravidae.
where they found that the incidence of hypoglycemia in
Meghalaya has a TFR 3 (NFHS 4 data) [18] which is the
infants born to mothers less than 30 years of age was
second-highest in the country and much higher than
38%, while the incidence in infants born to ≥ 30 years
the national average of 2.2 [19]. This would have a cas-
was 18.9%. In our study, the enrolled subjects that were
cading effect and lead to preterm births, late preterm
more than 30 years usually had multiparity and poor
births, and the birth of low birth weight neonates. This
maternal health and had poor access to medical ser-
study also enrolled a relatively high number of Infants of
vices.
diabetic mothers which is a reflection of the high preva-
lence of diabetes in the population. In our study, the neonates of multigravida mothers
had a higher incidence of hypoglycemia than primigrav- newborn infants with gestational age ≥ 35 weeks. Acta Pae-
idae. Similar results were obtained by Sasidharan CK, et diatr 109: 31-44.
al. [21]. But result was different in the study which was 4. Harris DL, Weston PJ, Harding JE (2012) Incidence of neo-
conducted by Purnima Samayam, et al. [22] in the year natal hypoglycemia in babies identified as at risk. J Pediatr
161: 787-791.
2015 where they found 23.07% of neonates born to
primiparous mothers had hypoglycemia, against 5.4% 5. Kaiser JR, Bai S, Gibson N, Holland G, Lin TM, et al. (2015)
Association between transient newborn hypoglycemia
neonates born to multiparous mothers. This finding can
and fourth-grade achievement test proficiency: A popula-
also be explained by the advanced age of the mothers tion-based study. JAMA Pediatr 169: 913-921.
(above 30 years) with poor maternal health and access
6. Lubchenco LO, Hansman C, Dressler M, Boyd E (1963)
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S (2019) Maternal obesity and cesarean section delivery:
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hypoglycemia was high in high-risk newborns. The blood poglycemia in newborns with risk factors. Int J Contemp
glucose level of a newborn was affected by maternal Pediatr 5: 1952-1955.
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Acknowledgment 14. Kanagagiri R, Y TS, Suryaprakash T (2018) Incidence of
hypoglycemia in high risk neonates and its relationship with
Dr. Parth Patel was the principal investigator and the gestational age birth weight and ponderal index. IOSR J
corresponding author; Dr. Palash Ranjan Gogoi and Dr. Dent Med Sci 17: 20-26.
Santanu Deb were co-investigators; Dr. Prasenjit Paul, 15. Singh YP, Devi TR, Gangte D, Devi TI (2014) Hypoglyce-
Dr. Pramod Paharia, Dr. Sabrina Yesmin, and Dr. Lima mia in newborn in Manipur. J Med Soc 280: 108-111.
Sangla Jamir with all other authors prepared and re- 16. Das A, Kallem VR, Sharma V, Nath S (2019) Hypoglycemic
viewed the manuscript. profile of exclusively breastfed low birth weight neonates.
Indian J Pediatr 86: 299-300.
Funding
17. Bromiker R, Perry A, Kasirer Y, Einav S, Klinger G, et al.
None. (2017) Early neonatal hypoglycemia: incidence of and risk
factors. A cohort study using universal point of care screen-
Conflict of Interest ing. J Matern Neonatal Med 32: 786-792.
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Meghalaya.
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