Symptomatic hypoglycemia in newborns

Out of 9014 consecutive live births in Queen Mary’s Hospital, 56 neonates developed symptoms related to hypoglycemia giving an incidence of 6.2/1000 live births. A very high incidence of low birth weight (LBW) babies (23), abnormal deliveries (25) which included cesarean section, forceps and breech deliveries, was found in these cases. Fetal distress was also noted in a significant number (21). Taking the LBW group alongwith other antenatal and natal problems, 75 percent of the neonates belonged to ‘high risk’ group. A very high mortality was found in category II (secondary hypoglycemia) which seemed to be related to the underlying primary condition rather than to hypoglycemia per se. Majority of these newborns were premature.