We’ve heard of the things between diabetes and pregnancy in our lives. It’s not a hidden science that pregnancy affects the blood sugar levels of out body. There’s a reason why pregnancy is to be handled with care.

However, it’s not all that dull and gloomy. A good regular check-up and treatment module will help you pass it off easily. We here would be talking about diabetes and pregnancy in detail down here as part of our today’s segment. We’ll further have the details about the effects, causes, treatment and the diet regime for people dealing with it.

Read along as we present ‘Diabetes and Pregnancy: How Diabetes Affect During Pregnancy? It’s Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Diet.

What’s Diabetes?

Diabetes, as we all know about, is the health condition when the blood sugar levels increases and tend to be higher than the normal range. As per common perception, there are two major types of diabetes, i.e. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

However, there’s another of those types that specifically affect in during the pregnancy stage. That one is known as gestational diabetes. We’ll be talking about it in brief down below.

What’s Gestational Diabetes?

It’s the type of diabetes that first occurs in during the pregnancy stage. Diabetes usually takes care of itself as soon as the birth of the child is done away with. The stats reveal that almost 1 in every 20-50 pregnancy sees gestational diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes generally occurs in during the second and latter part of the pregnancy. This type of diabetes often causes difficulty during delivery and often resorts to needing a C-Section birth. Women having suffered from gestational diabetes are at a risk of developing another type of diabetes in future.

How is Gestational Diabetes caused while Pregnant?

During pregnancy, the body requires higher levels of insulin so as to control the sugar levels in the body. As such, when the production of insulin results in deficit as then the required levels, the blood sugar levels rise high up. That’s where gestational diabetes in pregnancy picks up.

It is why women suffering from gestational diabetes needs more care and treatment so as to control their blood sugar levels. If not controlled in time, then it can affect both the mother’s and child’s health.

The Risk factors for Gestational diabetes

We here shall list out the risk factors for gestational diabetes down below for you. Read along.

• Women previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes in earlier pregnancies.
• Women with a short interval in between pregnancies.
• Women whose profile includes stillbirth in an earlier
• Women with diabetes lineage in the family.
• Women who previously has given a birth to a baby with abnormal birth weight.

The Diagnose procedure

Normally, a glucose tolerance test is done up to check whether the patient is suffering from gestational diabetes or not. The GTT, shortly acronym for glucose tolerance test is done once at first antenatal test and then at the 24-28-week period.

The Treatment procedure

The treatment procedure for the person suffering from gestational diabetes includes proper medication along with ample physical workout and enriched diet. The medicines normally approved off are metformin and insulin injections.

The Diet Regime

The thing about gestational diabetes and the diet schedule for it is that it likens pretty much to the diet regime of other types of diabetes. We’ll here advise you on the proper food intake and diet schedule for diabetes when pregnant so that you can manage it better.

• Have small portions of a meal at timely intervals of 2-3 hrs. That way, the blood sugar level is regulated throughout and doesn’t spike up.
• Decrease your calorie intake and cut back on the junk foods for all.
• Always look for a nutrition based diet with ample complex carbs, fruits, veggies, whole grains, fibers and more.
• Never skip meals as that affects your blood sugar levels.
• Avoid carbonated and sugary beverages.

The complications with Gestational Diabetes

There are quite a few complications going forward with gestational diabetes. We’ll look to document it into segments as the complications in during the pregnancy and after it differently.

a) Complications during pregnancy

• Most common of the lot is premature birth, which is likely seen before the normal schedule of 37 weeks of pregnancy.
• Cases of miscarriage and premature death of the child, i.e. stillbirth.
• Babies born with a higher weight that normal which causes stress while labor stage.
• Infections during pregnancy which might turn out to be severe.
• The need for a C-section birth.

b) Complications after pregnancy

i) For the Mother

• The mother may develop high blood pressure and blood clots after the pregnancy.
• The blood sugar levels may increase or decrease dramatically.
• Chances of further complications like eye and kidney problems.

ii) For the Child

• Respiratory distress in the years leading by.
• Chances of birth injury.
• Increased risk of early death for the child.
• Common sightings of jaundice in the child.
• Cases of low blood sugar, i.e. hypoglycemia.

What next after pregnancy?

Since Gestational Diabetes dies down as soon as the delivery of the child, the medications like insulin injections and more are stopped at the earlier after the child is delivered. However, the risks for future cases of gestational diabetes returning are quite high. And then there are chances of Type 2 Diabetes too for many later on.

So there are a few things to be taken care of. We’ll list them out down below-

• Always keep your body weight in check and never let it go into the overweight category.
• Include regular physical workout into your schedule to keep your body fit and healthy.
• Don’t indulge in smoking and drinking as they tend to increase the chances of diabetes and more.
• Have a regular check-up of your blood sugar and keep it at the optimum level.
• Avoid pregnancies within a short span of time.

Advice for Women with previous diabetic history

We’ve talked long about gestational diabetes and its effects on the pregnancy and more. But a great deal of care also needs to be taken for people with pre-diabetic history. We’ll offer some advice on the here.

• Always plan your pregnancy as that will help you manage the pregnancy period better.
• Keep your blood sugar levels in check at all times. Unregulated blood sugar levels tend to cause complications for in during the pregnancy and the delivery.
• Always opt for good diet regime and include ample physical workout in your schedule.
• Avoid smoking and drinking habits while planning for pregnancy.

Read Also: 10 Things Women with Diabetes Should Know

Although gestational diabetes comes with a baggage of complications and risks, timely check-ups and treatment can help ward off any further complications of the disease. That way, the health of both the mother and the child will be safeguarded.