What are the complications if you’re diabetic during pregnancy?
There is no bigger gift than to have life growing in you!
Certain hormonal changes in the body, your ethnicity, lifestyle, and your weight can make you diabetic during pregnancy. Though temporary, the symptoms of gestational diabetes and its complications might adversely affect your baby.
When you are pregnant, everyone around you advises. Do this, do that. Never do that, don’t do this. There is the pleasure of life growing inside you and the anxiety for its wellbeing. It’s joyous sometimes while other times you feel it would have been great if the stork brought the baby!
However, are you aware that you need to take utmost care of your diet to avoid high blood glucose levels?
What is gestational diabetes?
In the list of screening tests a pregnant woman undergoes, testing for gestational diabetes is vital. Gestational diabetes is a condition that is characterized by the prevalence of high blood glucose levels. This condition can cause numerous complications both in the mother and the fetus.
Sugar levels are high during this condition as the cells of the tissues become resistant to insulin in order to nourish the fetus. However, when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to process additional glucose, it causes gestational diabetes. It can be caused due to obesity in the mother, hormones in the placenta, and a family history of diabetes.
Symptoms of gestational diabetes:
Gestational diabetes does not generally show up with any noticeable symptoms and so it is extremely important for pregnant women to have a screening test between the 24th and 28th week of the pregnancy.
Gestational Diabetes Treatment:
Once gestational diabetes is diagnosed, it is very important to consult a diabetologist and a dietician in order to manage the blood glucose levels. In most cases, it is managed with the help of dietary modifications and exercises, but some cases demand medical management.
Complications of Gestational Diabetes:
Many women that undergo treatment deliver healthy babies, but some of them can experience complications including:
Macrosomia. This is a condition in which the baby weighs more than the normal weight.
Having a C-section.
Need for induced labor.
Hypoglycemia in the newborn baby.
Risk of type 2 diabetes in children.
Perinatal death.
Taking into consideration the seriousness of the complications, it is of utmost importance to manage it under the supervision of diabetologists, dieticians, and health counsellors.
