How Common Is GDM in India?
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
If your diagnosis felt like bad luck, the numbers say otherwise. GDM is one of the most common complications of pregnancy in India.
The ICMR-INDIAB national study found a weighted GDM prevalence of 22.4% — more than one pregnancy in five. Of that, 2.5% was already known and 19.8% was newly diagnosed during the study, which tells you how much goes undetected without screening.
There is almost no urban-rural gap: 24.2% in urban areas against 21.6% in rural ones. This is not a city problem.
Regional variation is much wider. Central India recorded the highest prevalence at 32.9%, and West India the lowest at 16%, with North India at 31.4% and the Northeast at 16.6%.
Two things follow for you as a patient. First, universal screening in India makes sense at this prevalence — which is why every pregnant woman is screened rather than only those who look high-risk.
Second, if roughly one in five pregnancies is affected, then a GDM diagnosis puts you in very ordinary company. Many of the women around you at the clinic are managing the same thing.
One caveat worth knowing: the number depends heavily on which diagnostic criteria your hospital uses.