Adverse Effects of Diabetes In Pregnancy And How To Overcome It

Gestational diabetes refers to diabetes that is diagnosed during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes occurs in about 7 percent of all pregnancies, usually in the second half of pregnancy. It almost always goes away once your baby is born. However, if gestational diabetes is not treated during your pregnancy, you may experience some complications.

• Cause

Pregnancy hormones cause the body to become resistant to the action of insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas that helps your body use the fuel supplied by food. The carbohydrates you eat provide your body with a fuel called glucose, a sugar in the blood that nourishes your brain, heart, tissues and muscles.

Glucose is also an essential fuel for your developing baby. When gestational diabetes occurs, insulin fails to effectively move glucose into the cells that need it. As a result, glucose builds up in the blood, causing blood sugar levels to rise.

• Diagnosis

How to diagnose gestational diabetes through a blood test, blood sugar levels can be measured after you drink sweetened drinks. If your blood sugar is too high, you have gestational diabetes. Sometimes only one test is needed to make a definitive diagnosis.

Gestational diabetes usually doesn't occur until late in pregnancy, when the placenta produces more hormones that interfere with the mother's insulin. For gestational diabetes it is usually detected between weeks 24 to 28. However, women at high risk can usually be detected from the first trimester.

• The impact

There are a number of risk factors associated with gestational diabetes, including:

• Overweight

1. Give birth to a baby who weighs more than 9 kilograms
2. Have a parent or sibling with diabetes
3. Have had gestational diabetes in the past
4. Have glucose in your urine

• Pregnancy Diabetes and Your Baby

Gestational diabetes can affect your developing baby in several ways:

As a result of high levels of sugar during pregnancy exposure to the mother's bloodstream, can result in larger babies and weight gain in postpartum mothers. The baby's pancreas produces extra insulin in response to higher glucose, which results in the baby storing extra fat and growing larger. Older babies can make labor more complicated for both mother and baby.

• Low Blood Sugar

If your blood sugar has risen during pregnancy, your baby may have low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, shortly after birth. The extra insulin that your baby produces when your blood sugar is high continues to lower your baby's blood sugar for a short time after birth.

Without a constant supply of sugar from the mother's blood, your baby's blood sugar level may drop too low. However, this is temporary and the nurses and doctors caring for your newborn will monitor your baby carefully and treat any episodes of low blood sugar that may occur.

• Avoid Complications

Remember that gestational diabetes complications can be prevented by keeping your blood sugar under control throughout your pregnancy. The goal of treatment is to keep your blood sugar levels in the normal range. Most women with well-controlled blood sugar deliver healthy babies without complications. 

 

Treatment

• Diet

The first step in treating gestational diabetes is to modify your diet to help keep your blood sugar levels within a normal range. You should consult a dietitian to develop a specific meal plan to help you reduce blood sugar.

The main principles for the diet include:

• Avoid foods high in sugar.

During your pregnancy, you should avoid desserts, such as candy, cookies, soft drinks, and fruit juices. During pregnancy you should eat whole fruit, but in small portions because the natural sugar content contained in fruit is very high.

• Eat high portions of high-carbohydrate foods.

Carbohydrates are found in bread, cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes, nuts, fruits, milk, yogurt and some vegetables. Carbohydrate foods break down into glucose during digestion. They are important because they contain the nutrients necessary for you and your developing baby. Therefore, it is important to eat carbohydrate foods at every meal, but don't overeat.

• Eat small portions.

Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you normally consume on a daily basis, reduce the portion of carbohydrate foods that are eaten at once, you must choose a healthy diet to meet your pregnancy nutritional needs. Eat three small meals and several healthy snacks to meet your food intake without increasing blood sugar.

• Blood Sugar Monitoring

The only way to know that gestational diabetes is properly under control is to check your blood sugar regularly. You will be asked to use a blood sugar monitor at home. You should check your blood sugar at least four times a day, or as directed by your doctor. Check blood sugar in the morning before breakfast and drink. Check your blood sugar one hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner and check regularly with your doctor to monitor blood sugar levels. 

 

Other treatments

Most women with a history of gestational diabetes can suppress their blood sugar by adjusting the diet, so you can continue eating as usual so it is safe to breastfeed your baby.

For about 30 percent of women who have gestational diabetes, follow a diet to control their blood sugar. The therapy used in women with gestational diabetes is usually insulin therapy, because this therapy is a safe therapy during pregnancy by following a recommended diet to monitor blood sugar levels.

• Post delivery

After your baby is born, your blood sugar will be checked to make sure that normal blood returns, but usually gestational diabetes will go away on its own after giving birth. If your blood sugar doesn't return to normal, it may mean you had diabetes before you became pregnant.

• That needs attention

If diabetics plan to get pregnant again, it is very important to check sugar levels, because women with a history of gestational diabetes have a risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Women who suffer from diabetes before becoming pregnant are at risk of developing health problems in pregnant women and their babies, because of blood sugar. women increase during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the main organ systems develop this can affect fetal development.