# A Pregnancy and Postnatal RCT Among Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Overweight/Obesity: The PAIGE2 Study

## TL;DR

This study tested a lifestyle intervention for women with gestational diabetes and overweight/obesity, but found no significant weight loss compared to routine care at 12 months postnatal.

## Contribution

The study evaluates a multicomponent lifestyle intervention for postnatal weight management in women with gestational diabetes and overweight/obesity.

## Key findings

- The intervention group had a 1.4 kg greater weight loss than the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant.
- No significant differences were found in BMI, waist circumference, or fasting plasma glucose between the groups.
- The study highlights the need for improved strategies to achieve better postnatal weight management outcomes.

## Abstract

This study examined the influence of a pregnancy and postnatal multicomponent lifestyle intervention for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and overweight/obesity from 6 weeks to 12 months postnatal. The primary outcome was weight at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included change in body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG).

The study involved 235 pregnant women with GDM and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 during pregnancy. Intervention components included an educational session, activity tracker (Fitbit), monthly phone calls, weekly motivational text messages, 12-week voucher for a commercial weight management organization and anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical measurements taken at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months postnatal. The control group received routine local maternity care.

A mean weight change of −2.0 (SD 7.1) kg was observed in the intervention group compared with −0.6 (SD 8.0) kg in the control group, difference −1.4 (95% CI −4.4, 1.5) kg from 6 weeks to 12 months postnatal, but this was not statistically significant (P = .34). Neither were significant differences obtained for any secondary outcomes: BMI −0.6 (−1.6, 0.5) kg/m2, WC −1.0 (−5.1, 3.2) cm and FPG 0.07 (−0.15, 0.29) mmol/L.

This lifestyle intervention among women with overweight/obesity and GDM resulted in a statistically nonsignificant 1.4 kg greater weight loss compared with routine care at 12 months postnatal. Further research is needed to understand how the different components of this lifestyle intervention might be better applied to elicit more successful results.