Deal with Gestational Diabetes during Pregnancy

While all else may be going just fine, some expecting mothers start developing high blood sugar levels between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. This is known as gestational diabetes mellitus GDM . Similar to other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes affects how your cells use sugar glucose . Up to 9.2 percent of pregnant women suffer from this problem, according to a 2014 analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, it is recommended that all women get tested for gestational diabetes at the beginning of the third trimester.

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The exact cause of GDM is unknown, but the hormonal changes during pregnancy play a key role. During pregnancy, the body produces larger amounts of some hormones like human placental lactogen, estrogen and hormones that increase insulin resistance. These hormones affect your placenta and also interfere with the action of insulin, the hormone that regulates your blood sugar. Women over the age of 25 who suffer from high blood pressure, have a family history of diabetes and were overweight before becoming pregnant are at a higher risk of developing GDM. Also, women who have previously given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds or had an unexplained miscarriage or stillbirth are at a higher risk.

Some of the mild symptoms of gestational diabetes may include fatigue, blurred vision, excessive thirst and excessive need to urinate. Developing GDM during pregnancy doesn’t mean that you will have diabetes after delivery. In most cases, the blood sugar levels of pregnant women with gestational diabetes tend to return to normal within a few hour or days post delivery. However, it is recommended that women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy get tested for diabetes every 2 to 3 years as they are at an increased risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. As gestational diabetes occurs in late pregnancy after the baby’s body has been formed, it does not cause the kinds of birth defects that can be seen in babies born to mothers who had diabetes before pregnancy. However, untreated or poorly controlled gestational diabetes can lead to macrosomia, or a “fat” baby. Babies with macrosomia can have very low blood glucose levels at birth or suffer from breathing problems. Such babies are at risk for obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the future. Gestational diabetes can be controlled and treated with lifestyle and dietary changes and medicines, in some instances.