Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is where a woman who has never experienced diabetes before, develops high blood sugar levels in the later stages of pregnancy.
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Although the causes of gestational diabetes are not black and white, it is thought that hormones produced during pregnancy interfere with the body’s use of insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Some women are more at risk of getting this type of diabetes, which could also be seen as additional causes of gestational diabetes, like if you have a family history of diabetes, or are obese.
As gestational diabetes is often symptomless to start of with, as is preeclampsia (a form of high blood pressure), your doctor will instigate a gestational diabetes test between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.
This gestational diabetes test will initially be, you drinking a sugary drink, and then having your blood tested. If you have high blood sugar levels after this test, you will need to undergo some other tests, where you will need to drink more high sugar content liquid and have more blood tests, until a gestational diabetes diagnosis can be made.
If you do end up getting a positive gestational diabetes diagnosis, you should be aware of the risks of this condition if untreated. You will essentially run the risk of giving birth to a big baby, as they will be getting the extra glucose from your blood, which makes the baby’s pancreas produce more insulin than it needs to grow and develop and store it as fat instead. This may result in birthing problems, or the need for a C-section.
Also with this problem, when the baby is born, they may have breathing problems if the glucose levels are low, or become at risk of future health problems like obesity if they have excess glucose in their body.
Most women who have a positive gestational diabetes diagnosis can control the condition with a gestational diabetes diet and exercise.
A typical gestational diabetes menu would consist of a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, a limited fat intake and wholegrain breads and cereals. Your doctor or dietician will help you create an individualized gestational diabetes menu, depending on the stage of pregnancy.
If this does not help the blood sugar levels return to normal after a couple of weeks, then it may become necessary to take insulin shots during the rest of the pregnancy to control the gestational diabetes.
