What is gestational diabetes? Did you know that gestational diabetes affects approximately 3 to 10 percent of all pregnancies?

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance discovered or first recognized during pregnancy. This is a condition in which women that have not been previously diagnosed as being diabetic, begin to show high blood glucose levels during their pregnancy.

Although this has become a wide spread and more commonly heard of problem during pregnancy, gestational diabetes generally has very few symptoms. Signs of gestational diabetes can be extreme fatigue and even nausea. This nausea is often referred to as morning sickness.

During pregnancy, doctors do a screening in order to diagnose their patients properly. This screening is often preformed by testing the patients blood glucose levels during fasting and for two hours after a meal or meal supplement drink. Although there seem to be no specific cause for this particular form of diabetes, it is often believed by doctors that it is caused by the hormones produced by a woman's body during pregnancy.

Hormone levels during pregnancy can often make a woman's body more resistant to insulin which can result in an impaired glucose tolerance level. This can cause problems with the health of a baby being born to a mother who is diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This can also have long term affects on a woman as well.

Some babies are at risk for being large for gestational age, being born with low blood sugar, and even jaundice. This is one of the many reasons why proper prenatal care is very important for all expectant mothers. Often this is treated by doctors with anti-diabetic drugs including insulin.

There are, of course, risk factors for developing this form of diabetes. Such factors include a previous diagnosis of impaired fasting glycemia or pre-diabetes, a family history in which an immediate relative suffered from type 2 diabetes, and even maternal age. A woman's risk of developing this form of diabetes increases as she ages; this is especially true for women 35 years of age and older. In some cases things such as ethnic background and even being obese or overweight can increase your risks, and women who smoke during pregnancy double their risk.

Although gestational diabetes is treatable with a consistent control of blood sugar levels, keep in mind that the side effects can still be present during delivery, though often only mildly. There is an increased risk for women who suffer from this form of diabetes during pregnancy, to develop other forms afterward. Type 2 Diabetes or even rarely, type 1 diabetes can develop after pregnancy in women who suffered from diabetes in the gestational form.

Children born to mothers who suffered from gestational diabetes are often prone to suffering from not only childhood obesity but may also develop type 2 diabetes later on in life as a result. This is why proper prenatal care is essentially vital to not only the baby's health but the expectant mother's health as well. Gestational diabetes can develop into life-long ailments if not diagnosed and treated properly which could later effect yours and your child's quality of life.

I hope we have answered the question for you... What is Gestational Diabetes? This site can give you some great ideas about managing your weight and keeping your blood sugar under control. Here you can also find some healthy, low glycemic recipes. But this information is not meant to replace the advice of your health care team. Be sure to consult with your health care provider to be sure.

ARE YOU AT RISK?
Take the Diabetes Risk Test to
help you determine your risk of developing
pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

Return to top of What is Gestational Diabetes?

Return to What is Type 2 Diabetes?

Return to Losing Weight and the Glycemic Index Home Page