Pregnancy, Parenthood & Playtime

Gestational Diabetes can be a scary thing, believe me I went through it with my second child!
While it only effects around 4% of pregnant women according to the American Diabetes Association, that still comes out to around 135,000 women in The United States annually. But in my time, and through my own personal experience, I learned that there are a lot of common myths and misconceptions about gestational diabetes, so I thought I would take the time and really write about it and what it means when you are impacted by it during your pregnancy.

What is Gestational Diabetes?
Gestational Diabetes is a pregnancy induced form of diabetes that takes place in women who have never been diagnosed with diabetes before, but are effected by high blood sugar levels during pregnancy itself. There is no current known cause of gestational diabetes per the American Diabetes Association, but they do have slight clues through research.

“The placenta supports the baby as it grows. Hormones from the placenta help the baby develop. But these hormones also block the action of the mother’s insulin in her body. This problem is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother’s body to use insulin. She may need up to three times as much insulin.

Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia.”

How is Gestational Diabetes Tested for?
Around 28 weeks of pregnancy your health care provider will order something called Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. Some providers do it in their office, and some will order it for a place like Quest Diagnostics. You will drink a VERY sugary drink, and then have your blood drawn exactly 1 hour after the drink was finished. If your test results from this come back elevated, then the 3 hour test will be ordered.
The 3 hour test is a little more complicated, as well as time consuming.
First you will have your blood drawn, then drink another sugary drink.  You will have your blood drawn at 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours after drinking that. If you then fail this test also, that is a confirmation of Gestational Diabetes in most women.

How does Gestational Diabetes affect the baby?
Because Gestational Diabetes only really impacts the mother towards the end of pregnancy once the baby is already fully formed, it impacts the growth of the baby. Gestational Diabetes does not cause any kind of birth defects, like is seen in mothers who have had diabetes before becoming pregnant.  But if you do not treat or control your Gestational Diabetes, you can harm your baby and not know it.  According to the American Diabetes Association :

“When you have gestational diabetes, your pancreas works overtime to produce insulin, but the insulin does not lower your blood glucose levels. Although insulin does not cross the placenta, glucose and other nutrients do. So extra blood glucose goes through the placenta, giving the baby high blood glucose levels. This causes the baby’s pancreas to make extra insulin to get rid of the blood glucose. Since the baby is getting more energy than it needs to grow and develop, the extra energy is stored as fat.

This can lead to macrosomia, or a “fat” baby. Babies with macrosomia face health problems of their own, including damage to their shoulders during birth. Because of the extra insulin made by the baby’s pancreas, newborns may have very low blood glucose levels at birth and are also at higher risk for breathing problems. Babies with excess insulin become children who are at risk for obesity and adults who are at risk for type 2 diabetes.”

How is Gestational Diabetes Treated?
There are several ways that Gestational Diabetes can be controlled. From special meal plans to medication. Because Gestational Diabetes can harm yourself, and your baby it is important that treatment starts immediately. In most cases your pregnancy care provider will refer you to an endocrinologist, someone who specializes in the care of diabetics. Most endocrinologists also have nutritionist in their office, as was the case with mine during my second pregnancy. Depending on what your blood sugar numbers are reading, they will attempt to control your Gestational Diabetes by diet, and if that becomes unsuccessful, they will discuss using diet as well as medication.

Will my future pregnancies be affected?
Your chances of getting Gestational Diabetes in future pregnancies after having it are 2 out of 3. So there is a good chance you will, but it does not always happen.

Something to also add is once you have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes in pregnancy, there is a good chance that you can develop type 2 diabetes later on in life. So you can take Gestational Diabetes as a warning side to help get yourself healthy and avoid a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes later on in life!

If you would like more information on Gestational Diabetes you can check out the American Diabetes Association website or talk to your health care provider!