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Publication, Part of

National Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) Audit, 2024-25

Publication Date:
13 Nov 2025
Geographic Coverage:
England
Date Range:
01 Apr 2024 to 31 Mar 2025
Page contents

Summary

This publication is the first publication of National Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) data taken from the National Diabetes Audit.

GDM is the most common medical condition to affect pregnant women. If it is untreated during pregnancy it can lead to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. Women who have GDM are at high risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease after pregnancy. They need long term follow up to assess and manage these risks, including referral for support to reduce the development of diabetes, for example the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP). Extensive guidance on the management of diabetes in pregnancy has been issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE NG3).

The GDM audit is designed to answer 3 questions which will support the care of women diagnosed with GDM:

• Question 1 - How many women are diagnosed with GDM across the NHS and are healthcare inequalities being addressed?

• Question 2 - Are women with GDM getting good maternal and neonatal outcomes across NHS services?

• Question 3 - Are women diagnosed with GDM adequately supported postnatally to detect and prevent development of diabetes?

Highlights

A detailed analysis file is provided in this publication which includes an overview of the GDM audit data, presenting key metrics at a national level. The detailed analysis file covers the following topics:

  • GDM summary counts
  • Demographics
  • Maternal outcomes
  • Neonatal outcomes
  • Monitoring
  • NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme courses
  • Development of non-diabetic hyperglycaemia
  • Development of type 2 diabetes

Key Facts

GDM prevalence is difficult to ascertain due to under-reporting both in primary and in secondary care settings

GDM is under-coded in primary care relative to expected prevalence. Improved communication from secondary care — including use of the correct SNOMED CT 11687002 — is essential to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate postnatal follow-up. There is a downloadable template postnatal letter and GDM traffic light tool to help improve this (please see 'Resources' section below).

Comparable pregnancy outcomes to women without GDM

Most women had normal birthweight babies (87.9%, 2.5-4kg) for the 68.5% of babies delivered at term (37-41 weeks). There was no difference in birthweight (adjusted for gestational age) of term babies in women with and without GDM.

Healthcare inequalities

Gestational diabetes is disproportionately higher among women from ethnic minority groups and those experiencing social deprivation, with under-reporting potentially widening healthcare inequalities

Gaps in postnatal monitoring

In 2024–25, only 57.4% of women with GDM received an annual HbA1c measurement, despite NICE NG3 guidance. Cardiometabolic follow-up: 52.2% had BP checks, 44.7% BMI assessments, and 35.4% cholesterol tests.

Progression to diabetes

Within five years, 10.8% developed non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH) and within 10 years 15.2% progressed to type 2 diabetes. These are likely to be underestimated due to systematic under recording of GDM prevalence, suboptimal postnatal HbA1c screening, and healthcare inequalities.

Low engagement with Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP)

Despite NICE NG3 guidance, only 4.5% of women with a GDM diagnosis have ever participated in the DPP. All women with GDM should be offered a DPP referral to reduce development of early-onset type 2 diabetes. Since 2024, women who have had GDM can self-refer to the DPP; action should be taken to proactively support women with a history of GDM to access this opportunity at scale. There is a downloadable template postnatal letter and GDM traffic light tool to help improve this (please see 'Resources' section below).

Change to NDA reporting

NHS England are currently reviewing the routine production of NDA State of the Nation reports. Please note that data will still be released via dashboards and standalone data files whilst this review is being conducted.

To help inform this review we would be grateful if users can provide feedback on their use of the State of the Nation reports using the feedback survey available in the ‘Related links' section of this page.

Last edited: 13 November 2025 9:32 am