Rise in Gestational Diabetes Incidents Yearly in the US Since 2016

A woman gets ready for her first baby, monitoring prenatal checkups and baby registries, only to discover that her blood sugar levels have placed her in an unexpected category: high-risk pregnancy. She is not alone. Gestational diabetes now impacts 79 out of every 1,000 births in the United States, with rates steadily rising for almost a decade.

Researchers at Northwestern Medicine examined over 12 million births from 2016 to 2024, revealing that gestational diabetes increased by 36 percent during this period. This condition arises when the body struggles to control blood sugar levels during pregnancy and has risen across every racial and ethnic group included in the study. The concerning aspect of this trend is its unwavering nature: year after year, the statistics only head in one direction.

Gestational diabetes is not merely a temporary issue. It heightens immediate risks during childbirth and predisposes both mother and child to elevated rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases later in life. The results published in JAMA Internal Medicine illustrate a trend of young American adults entering pregnancy in poorer metabolic health compared to past generations, likely influenced by decreased physical activity, poor dietary habits, and increasing obesity rates.

Disparities That Require Clarification

The impact of gestational diabetes is not evenly distributed. American Indian and Alaska Native women experience rates of 137 per 1,000 births. Asian women and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander women also report similarly high figures, at 131 and 126 per 1,000 respectively. Hispanic, White, and Black women reported lower yet still significant rates.

The reasons behind these disparities are not fully understood, partly because the most affected populations are among those least represented in medical research. Dr. Nilay Shah, the senior author of the study and an assistant professor of cardiology at Northwestern, emphasized that current preventive measures are clearly ineffective.

“Gestational diabetes has been consistently increasing for over a decade, indicating that the efforts we have made to tackle diabetes in pregnancy have not been successful,” Shah states.

The research team utilized birth certificate information from the National Center for Health Statistics, concentrating on first-time mothers carrying single babies. This method provided a remarkably comprehensive national overview, covering years preceding, during, and following the pandemic. The upward trend remained unbroken.

What Is Needed to Change Course

Emily Lam, a third-year medical student at Northwestern and the primary author of the study, highlighted that even within broader categories such as Asian or Hispanic populations, there exists considerable variation that is often overlooked. These nuances are important when crafting interventions that truly impact individuals.

The research builds on the team’s previous work from 2011 to 2019, verifying nearly 15 years of continuous increases. Shah argues that addressing the issue requires a focus beyond clinical settings. Public health policies need to prioritize helping individuals maintain their health long before pregnancy starts, which involves ensuring access to quality healthcare and creating environments where healthy behaviors are realistic.

At present, the data clearly indicate one thing: the health of young women in the United States is declining, with the effects most prominently observed during pregnancy. The critical question is not whether gestational diabetes rates will keep rising, but whether policymakers and healthcare systems will implement strategies that correspond with the magnitude of the issue.

JAMA Internal Medicine: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.7055