Effects of Probiotics on the Incidence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus During Pregnancy: A Randomized and Placebo-controlled Trial

We aim to observe whether the supplementation of multiple probiotics in the second trimester of pregnancy affect the health in pregnant women, and improve the maternal and infant outcomes. Pregnant women were randomly divided into probiotics group and placebo group by double-blind method after signing the informed consent. At the same time, pregnant women in the negative control group who did not participate in the research were enrolled. The pregnant women in the probiotics group began to take probiotics including Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus plantarum total 400 CFU twice a day from the 16th week of pregnancy to the 23rd week of pregnancy. There were 72 pregnant women in probiotics group, 64 in placebo group and 59 in negative control group in research. There was no significant difference in the incidence of GDM among the groups (χ2=0.197, P=0.906). In the second trimester, the vitamin D level in the probiotics group was significantly higher than that in the other two groups (p<0.05).The BMI, fat weight and body fat percentage of pregnant women in the probiotics group at 24 weeks of pregnancy were significantly lower than those in the other two groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, the intervention of multiple probiotics in pregnant women from 16 to 23 weeks of gestation did not significantly reduce the incidence of GDM, but the supplementation of multiple probiotics may affect the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage, the growth of pregnant women's weight, especially body fat and the level of blood lipids and vitamin D.