Trends and disparities among diabetes - Complicated births in Minnesota, 1993-2003

We used Minnesota birth certificate data from 1993-2003 to test 2 hypotheses: rates of diabetes-complicated pregnancy are increasing, and disparities between more and less socially advantaged groups are widening. Significant increases occurred in rates (per 1000 live births) of prepregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (from 2.6 to 4.9 and 25.6 to 34.8, respectively). Increases were significant in all demographic groups except gestational diabetes among American Indian mothers, and disparities worsened among all groups. Targeted interventions and surveillance improvements are needed.