Gestational Diabetes Is A Form Of Diabetes Which Affects Pregnant Women.

Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes which would generally affect pregnant women. It is believed that the hormones produced during pregnancy reduce the women's receptivity to insulin, leading to a high blood sugar level. Gestational diabetes affects approximately 4% of all pregnant women. It is estimated that about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes arise in the United States of America each year.

Gestational diabetes is a different type of diabetes that starts during pregnancy. If you have diabetes, your body is not able to use the sugar or glucose in your blood as well as it should, so the level of sugar in your blood would become higher than normal. Gestational diabetes affects only 1% to 3% of all pregnant women. It is usually developed in the second trimester which is sometimes as early as the 20th week of pregnancy. Most often, gestational diabetes goes away once the baby is born.

High sugar levels in the blood can be unhealthy for both you and your baby. If the diabetes is not treated in time, the baby may be more likely to have problems during birth. For example, the baby may have a low blood sugar level, jaundice, or the baby may weigh much more than normal. Gestational diabetes can also affect the health of the child.

For instance, if your baby is very large inside the womb, you may have a more difficult delivery or you may perhaps need a cesarean section. Gestational diabetes also increases the risk of developing preeclampsia, which is the condition that can be serious if left untreated.

A hormone that is involved in development of placenta, which helps the baby to develop, also blocks the action of the mother's insulin in her body. This problem is known to be called insulin resistance. During pregnancy a mother may need up to three times more insulin for glucose to leave the blood and transform it to energy. When the body is not able to use insulin due to insulin resistance it develops into Gestational Diabetes.

Glucose builds up in the blood to a very high level and it is called hyperglycemia. Gestational diabetes affects the mother in the late pregnancy and the baby too. Insulin does not just cross the placenta, as glucose and the other nutrients do. Extra blood glucose passes through the placenta which gives the baby a high blood glucose level. It results the baby's pancreas to make extra insulin in order to get rid of the blood glucose.

Since the baby is getting a lot more energy than it needs to develop and grow, the extra energy is then stored as fat. It can lead to a possible Macrosomia i.e. “Fat" baby. At birth this fat baby develops a problem in breathing or may even develop hypoglycemia due to over production of insulin.

Gestational diabetes can harm the woman and her baby, so they need to consider about it seriously and start caring at once. The main aim of gestational diabetes treatment is to keep the blood glucose levels equal to those of a normal pregnant woman. It needs a planned meal and scheduled physical activity, and also blood glucose testing and insulin injections if required. If gestational diabetes is taken care off in a proper manner, it reduces the risk of a cesarean section birth that high weight babies may require.

• Cassandra Bagley
• 31/05/2009, 9:59 PM
• 0 Comments