Gestational Diabetes: Symptoms and Treatment
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. This condition can be harmful to mother and baby if blood sugar levels are not well controlled, but proper management can prevent complications. Most women don’t have symptoms, although some may experience blurred vision, increased thirst, fatigue or more frequent infections. Gestational diabetes typically goes away after delivery, but women who’ve had it have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the future.
Request an appointment with a board-certified OB-GYN who can help you plan to start or add to your family.
What Causes Gestational Diabetes?
Pregnancy causes big changes in hormone levels, and that can affect insulin, a hormone that your body uses to turn sugar into energy. Your body may not be able to make enough insulin, or pregnancy hormones may prevent insulin from working properly. That can leave too much sugar in your blood, leading to gestational diabetes.
Risk Factors of Gestational Diabetes
- A family history of diabetes
- A history of recurrent miscarriage
- Being older than 25 during pregnancy
- Being overweight when pregnancy begins
- Belonging to certain ethnic groups, including African American, Hispanic/Latina, Asian American, Native American or Pacific Islander
- Excessive weight gain during pregnancy
- Having given birth to a baby who had a birth defect or weighed more than 9 pounds
- Having excess amniotic fluid during pregnancy
- Having high blood pressure
- Having polycystic ovary syndrome
Gestational Diabetes Complications
If you develop gestational diabetes, it’s important to manage it to prevent complications, which may include:
- An increased risk of delivery by cesarean section
- Giving birth to a baby with a high birth weight, which increases the baby’s chance of injury during birth
- Low blood sugar for the mother during pregnancy or the baby after birth
- Preeclampsia, a type of high blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy or after giving birth
Gestational Diabetes Prevention
You can reduce your risk of gestational diabetes and foster a healthy pregnancy by:
- Keeping all prenatal appointments
- Losing excess weight before pregnancy with exercise and a healthy diet
- Managing your weight during pregnancy to keep it in a healthy range
Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis and Treatment
Between your 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy, your Beaufort Memorial prenatal care provider will administer a screening test called an oral glucose tolerance test, which can show whether you have gestational diabetes. You may receive the test earlier if you have a higher risk.
If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you can manage it by:
- Checking your blood sugar regularly
- Keeping all primary and prenatal care appointments throughout pregnancy
- Following a regular exercise plan — swimming and other low-impact forms of physical activity are ideal — approved by your health care provider
- Following a diabetes-friendly meal plan approved by your health care provider
- Taking insulin, if prescribed
After delivery, you'll have a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, so you should ask your primary care provider how often you should undergo diabetes screening moving forward.