Audit of the recommendations of care for pregnant women with diabetes mellitus in the West Midlands, UK

Following the St Vincent Declaration of 1989, two sets of national guidelines were developed for the care of women with diabetes mellitus during pregnancy. Using a questionnaire survey this report audits how closely we are adhering to these recommendations in the West Midlands region. There was a 100% response rate to the questionnaire. The audit highlights less than complete compliance with these recommendations in areas of pre-pregnancy care, availability of joint clinics, routine use of blood glucose meters and Glucagon kits, monitoring for retinopathy and fetal assessment availability of a database. It is possible that non-compliance to these recommendations may be contributing to the continuing high perinatal mortality stillbirth and congenital malformation rates, which remain two to four times that of the non-diabetic population.