الفهرس 
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION
It is well established that diabetes mellitus in
pregnancy is associated with increased risk of fetal and
neonatal mortality.
For over 50 years numerous authorities have advocated
that pregnant women with preexisting diabetes be
managed by teams of specialized personnel, preferably in
centers where high risk obstetric and neonatal service
are available. Recently, reports from several diabetes
centers have documented that with early, rigorous and
coordinated perinatal management, perinatal mortality
rates for pregnancies complicated by preexisting diabetes
can be reduced to levels in the range of 35 to 46
per 1000 births (Gaube et al., 1977; Kitzmiller et al.,
1978).
These results, however, may not be indicative of
the experience of the general pregnant diabetic population
particularly of those women delivering outside of
major medical centers. First, patients in diabetic
centers may be atypical either because they are referred
as a result of high risk status or because they live in
proximity of teaching hospitals. Second, the outcomes
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reported are undoubtedly due in large part to care by
providers whose interest and expertise in the care of
pregnant women with diabetes surpasses that of physicians
who serve the majority of the general pregnant
population.
To establish estimates of the incidence of pregnancy
complicated by preexisting maternal diabetes and to
measure perinatal risks for an unselected population of
pregnant diabetic women, a population based study of
these pregnancies was undertook.