Singapore, Aug. 18 -- Researchers from the Global Centre for Asian Women's Health (GloW) and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) have found that selected maternal biomarkers from first-trimester random blood samples can effectively predict a woman's risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

In Singapore, GDM - which affects one in five pregnant women-is typically diagnosed with a three-point oral glucose tolerance test between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. The test requires overnight fasting and takes around 2-3 hours.

The team found that just seven first-trimester biomarkers from random blood samples - including common tests like HbA1c (a...