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What Is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that presents only when a woman is pregnant, usually in the fifth month, and goes away once the baby is born. Women may need to control their high blood sugar through diet modification, oral medication, or daily insulin injections. If gestational diabetes is left untreated the baby may be too large for a vaginal delivery, jaundiced, or have low blood sugar when born.

  1. Diagnosis

    • According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) three to eight out of every 100 pregnant women will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. To diagnose, a fasting glucose test may be performed. This is simply a blood draw that will measure the amount of sugar in your blood after not eating or drinking for eight hours. A longer test involved drinking a sugary substance and having your blood drawn at one hour intervals. If your results are too high two out of three times you will be treated for gestational diabetes.

    Diet

    • Your doctor will most likely refer you to a nutritionist to review your current diet and offer suggestions to reduce health risks to you and your child during pregnancy. By sitting down and discussing the foods you enjoy with the nutritionist you can create a meal plan that will be pleasing as well as keep your blood sugar within the target range. Carbohydrates will most likely be restricted and increasing your intake of fiber from whole grains and fruits is suggested.

    Exercise

    • Physical activity is important to everyone, not just pregnant women. Safe activities to participate in while pregnant are walking and swimming. Scheduled daily exercise allows your body to use glucose which is beneficial to the health of both you and your baby. Check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

    Insulin

    • If a meal plan and exercise can not keep your blood sugars in the target range, you may need to start insulin injections. By keeping a diary of your blood glucose numbers and the times you tested, your doctor will be able to see when your sugars run high. An insulin to carbohydrate ratio (for example, one unit of insulin for each two carbs consumed) will be prescribed. The closer you can keep your numbers to a non-diabetic, the healthier you and your new baby will be.

    Complications

    • Aside from those complications listed in the overview, a big concern for pregnant diabetic moms is preeclampsia. This is categorized by dangerously high blood pressure and the only cure is to deliver the baby. Your doctor will most likely hospitalize you and put you on bed rest so he can delay the delivery until the baby is strong enough.

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