Pregnant Women’s Introduction to Gestational Diabetes

When a woman experiences abnormally high blood sugar levels during pregnancy may be sign that she has gestational diabetes. Generally, women suffering from the disease were not diagnosed with diabetes prior to their pregnancy. This sudden development of diabetes is attributed to the imbalance of hormones in woman’s body, which is caused by the pregnancy.

In most case, women who are prone to diabetes are at higher risk for gestational diabetes. This means that women are overweight having close relative suffering from type 2 diabetes are especially susceptible. Women who fit the profile must undertake the necessary exams to identify whether they have gestational diabetes. The reason for this vigilance is that the complications due to gestational diabetes endanger the life of both mother and child.

On a good note, women who experience gestational diabetes may lose the symptoms after child birth, as their body normalizes the amount of production of hormones once again. Even so gestational diabetes is a serious condition that requires the proper treatment.

Symptoms and Complications of Gestational Diabetes

Many pregnant women are not aware that they have gestational diabetes since its symptoms are often identified as an effect of pregnancy. Then again, women should not hide any details of their pregnancy from their doctors. Being thirsty a lot, fatigue or tiredness, nausea, increased urination, blurred vision and recurrent yeast infections are signs that the pregnant woman might be suffering from gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes poses a great risk to mother and child. The high levels in sugar may cause growth abnormalities and chemical imbalances after birth.

Treatment

Gestational diabetes can be controlled with strict diet and exercise. In a gestational diabetes diet, the intake of sugar and carbohydrates is significantly reduced.  On the other hand, food with high fiber and complex carbohydrates is introduced. The idea here is to supply a sufficient amount of calories, while making sure to prevent sudden spikes of blood sugar levels. Beans, root crops, and whole grains are good for a gestational diabetes diet, as they take longer to break down into glucose providing a steady supply of fuel instead of a quick burst that cannot be processed with a dwindling supply of insulin. Although normally fruits are good for the body, for women having gestational diabetes, fruit intake is as well decreased.

There are cases that doctors will recommend the pregnant woman to have insulin injections to help control her blood sugar levels.