Gestational Diabetes – Understanding What Gestational Diabetes is

Any woman who is pregnant is at risk for gestational diabetes and just like any other form of diabetes it affects the way your body processes the glucose in your blood stream.

One of the main differences is that the high blood sugar levels are not likely to cause you any real problems, but may have adverse effects on your unborn baby.

Like any complication with pregnancy there is definite reason for concern, however for the most part this form of diabetes can be brought under control with changes in your diet rather than having to resort to medications like you do with other types of diabetes.

As to what causes gestational diabetes in some women and not in others, researchers do not really know. To gain a better understanding of how it occurs you need to know how the body normally processes glucose. When you eat the sugars from the food they travel into your bloodstream where they are broken down by the insulin that is produced in your pancreas. From here the glucose is passed to all of the cells in your body to be used as fuel.

When you are pregnant your body produces some very high levels of hormones in the placenta, all of which can hinder the way your insulin works within your tissues resulting in high blood sugar levels. As your pregnancy progresses the placenta produces more of these hormones and the result can be excessively high levels of blood sugars that can have dramatic effects on the growth and development of your baby. Gestational diabetes usually occurs during the last half of your pregnancy and only rarely before the 20th week.

While any pregnant woman can develop this form of diabetes some are more at risk than others. Specific risk factors can include women who become pregnant once they are older than 25 years of age, those who are seriously overweight with a BMI of 30 or more. Those who have a family history of Type 2 diabetes such as a parent or sibling or if you have previously given birth to a baby that weighed over 9 pounds you are at risk. Although no one really knows why race can also play a factor in the risk of developing gestational diabetes as those who are black, Hispanic, Asian or American Indian have a far higher incidence than those who are Caucasian.

Most doctors will test their pregnant patients as a matter of routine just to make sure that they catch gestational diabetes at the earliest possible moment. The most common test is the glucose challenge test, this involves having you drink a thick syrupy concoction that is loaded with glucose. After your body has been given a chance to absorb the glucose your blood sugar level is measured, a reading of 130-140 mg/dL is considered normal anything above it and you are considered at risk.

Your doctor will order a follow up test that requires you to repeat the drink and your blood glucose levels will be checked several times over next three hours or so. If your levels remain high you will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The good news is that in the majority of patients a simple change in diet along with a program of exercise will control your diabetes and once you have given birth your body will soon return to normal with no lasting signs of diabetes.