What is Gestational Diabetes?
Gestational diabetes is when a pregnant woman who has never had diabetes develops diabetes in the twenty-fourth to twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. There are reportedly 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes every year in the United States. While it is a serious condition, women diagnosed with gestational diabetes can and do deliver healthy babies. With the proper medical care, a healthy diet, and controlled weight gain the risks of this type of diabetes are minimized.
To eliminate the possibility that a woman has gestational diabetes, her physician will perform one of two tests. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (One Step): after a pregnant woman has not eaten anything for a period of four to eight hours, her blood glucose level is tested. Then she will drink a concoction that is extremely high in sugar content and be tested again in approximately two hours. Two Step: this test requires the pregnant woman to drink the above mentioned concoction first, without the fasting period. Then after one hour, her blood glucose level is taken. A non-diabetic woman will have a normal reading at this time. A woman who has a high level of blood glucose will be re-tested by means of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test to be certain that she has gestational diabetes.
No one knows why gestational diabetes happens, but some speculations are that the fetus makes hormones that prevent the mother from making adequate amounts of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels. A pregnant woman’s body is undergoing change and can require up to three times the normal amount of insulin needed to control her blood sugar levels. Macrosomia can occur in the infant if the surplus of sugar is passed to them through the placenta.
Additional risks for the mother-to-be and her child are: A caesarian section may be needed to prevent endangering a macrosomic infant. Low blood glucose levels may exist in the baby. Jaundice may be present in the baby. There may be low levels of minerals in the baby’s blood. The baby may have trouble with breathing when born. Children born under these circumstances run higher risks of being overweight. Developing Type 2 diabetes is more common in the mothers and children. The risk of gestational diabetes in future pregnancies is higher.
In order to avoid risks to both mother and her baby, gestational diabetes needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly. Along with other advice that the health care provider gives, a healthy diet and safe exercise program should be initiated. Carbohydrate intake needs to be minimized because they are almost directly converted to sugar. Moderate exercise helps to maintain weight gain. An excessive weight gain leads to risks for the mother as well as the immediate and future risks to the baby. If Insulin is needed to control blood sugar levels, take it as directed by the healthcare provider. Monitoring the blood glucose level closely is another way to avoid risk.
After delivery, gestational diabetes goes away on its own. The placenta is no longer producing hormones that affected the mother’s ability to produce insulin. It is highly recommended to obtain another glucose test six weeks after giving birth to ensure that Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes was not incorrectly diagnosed as gestational diabetes. Having another test performed will also assess the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes down the road.
The risk of having Type 2 diabetes in women, who have had gestational diabetes, and their children, can be lessened by making changes in their eating and exercising habits. Obesity is the leading cause of Type 2 diabetes, but eating right and exercising and losing the excess weight can make all the difference.
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