Pregnancy Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most common pregnancy complications. It can be pregestational (prior to the pregnancy) or gestational diabetes, which appears only during pregnancy.

Pregestational diabetes carries higher risks for the fetus and the pregnancy. The more serious the diabetes, the greater the possibility for complications during pregnancy. Every woman who is desiring or planning pregnancy should have constant monitoring at least 6 months prior to the pregnancy. Regular check-ups narrow down the risks to a minimum. The diet also has influence on having the diabetes under control.

Gestational diabetes is diagnosed during pregnancy itself. If the patient has preexisting conditions such as obesity, diabetes in the family or gestational diabetes in the previous pregnancy, we would perform a glycose overdose screening between week 24 and 28.

Women who got diabetes in the pregnancy, her condition should be followed after the pregnancy as well because more than have of them could develop diabetes 2. Having gestational diabetes does not increase the risks for the fetus, except when it gets to the point when the insulin is too high even when the mother hasn’t eaten, in these cases there could be intrauterine fetal death between week 4 and 8. The more common effects of pregnancy diabetes are hypertension and a C-section delivery. This is due to the fact that frequently the organs of the fetus are larger and the fetus itself is almost always more than 4 kg in weight. This happens because the mother has higher levels of glycose, which passes the placenta wall and acts as a growth hormone, even inducing fat to be deposited in the tissues, in most cases in the belly area and in the shoulder area of the fetus. If is it deposited in the shoulder area, it creates a condition that should be dealt with in order to bring a healthy baby to life.

The treatment for gestational diabetes is based on a healthy diet. If the intake of proper food doesn’t result with regulated sugar levels, an insulin therapy could be prescribed. Moderate physical activity is very useful as well.