Question

Infant born to a diabetic mother is at risk for all of the following, EXCEPT

• A. Neonatal hepatitis
• B. Polycythemia
• C. Hypoglycemia
• D. Congenital malformations

Hint:

Think about which of these problems actually traces back to fetal hyperinsulinism.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

An infant of a diabetic mother deals with the after effects of high fetal insulin caused by high maternal sugars crossing the placenta. Let's use that idea to check each option.

1. Neonatal hepatitis: This liver condition is usually tied to infections or inborn metabolic disease of the liver, and it has no real link to a mother's diabetes, so it does not belong on this list.
2. Polycythemia: Ongoing mild fetal oxygen shortage plus high insulin push the fetus to make extra red cells, so a raised red cell count is a genuine and common finding in these babies.
3. Hypoglycemia: This is the hallmark problem. The baby's pancreas is used to making extra insulin to handle the mother's sugar, so once born and cut off from that sugar supply, the blood sugar can crash quickly.
4. Congenital malformations: When sugar control is poor early in pregnancy, the developing organs, especially the heart and spine, are more likely to form incorrectly, so malformation risk is genuinely higher.

Three of these four options connect directly to high maternal glucose and fetal hyperinsulinism, but neonatal hepatitis stands apart with no such link.

Let's summarize:

• Fetal hyperinsulinism explains hypoglycemia, polycythemia, and a higher malformation rate in an IDM.
• Neonatal hepatitis is not part of this pattern and is caused by unrelated factors.

So the condition that is not a risk here is neonatal hepatitis.