Study Population:
All women who attended for an OGTT as part of standard antenatal care between March and June 2020, during the first National lockdown in England in response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) pandemic (COVID-19). The study is reporting on data from routine clinical practice so no ethical approval was needed.
At the time of this study, our GDM screening protocol was to offer 75-gram OGTT as follows:
those with previous GDM were offered an OGTT at 16-20 weeks and a second OGTT at 28 weeks if the first is normal.
those with a BMI > 40kg/m2 were offered an OGTT at 28 weeks.
all other pregnant women were routinely screened for GDM with a post meal VPG at 28 weeks gestation. If the random VPG was ≥ 6.7mmol/L an OGTT was offered. We continued the same pathway throughout the UK COVID-19 lockdown, however in 2020, as part of efforts to minimise clinical contact due to concerns around COVID-19, we introduced measurement of POC-StatStrip® testing at the same time as the 2-hour VPG. This allowed us to identify women likely to have GDM and provide them with a GDM kit, including written information and a blood glucose meter, before they left the clinic. If the diagnosis of GDM was confirmed on laboratory VPG measurement, women could be taught self-monitoring of glucose immediately via online videos without having to return for a second visit to collect a glucose meter or wait for a postal delivery.