GESTATIONAL DIABETES: THE BASICS YOU NEED TO KNOW
You are pregnant and have been told that you have gestational diabetes. This means that your blood test shows that the amount of sugar in your blood is too high. We would like to help you learn more about gestational diabetes.
WHAT IS GESTATIONAL DIABETES?
Gestational diabetes is a kind of diabetes that is discovered during pregnancy. It is often found later in pregnancy, around 24-28 weeks. Gestational means "in pregnancy". Diabetes means having more sugar (glucose) in your blood than your body needs or uses. At least seven out of every one hundred pregnant women will have gestational diabetes. Having gestational diabetes does not mean your baby will be born with diabetes or birth defects. But, women with gestational diabetes and their babies are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity later in life. Also, babies of mothers who have gestational diabetes may develop other problems related in high blood sugar.
WHY IS MY BLOOD SUGAR TOO HIGH?
There are four main reasons why your blood sugar can be too high:
Your body’s insulin which lowers blood sugar is not being used well or your body cannot make enough
Pregnancy hormones
Being overweight or gaining too much weight during pregnancy
Nutrition related: you are eating the wrong foods or eating foods that spike your sugar too much, too often
Hormones are natural chemicals made in the body. Every hormone is needed and has a job to do.
Insulin is hormone your body makes. Insulin lowers your blood sugar every time you eat. During pregnancy, extra hormones are made to support the pregnancy and the growing baby.
These hormones can get in the way of body’s use of insulin so the body is not able to keep the blood sugar normal. That is why high levels of pregnancy hormones can cause your blood sugar to rise. This rise in blood sugar causes gestational diabetes. Sometimes, your insulin does not work very well. One reason insulin my not work well is having excess body fat. The more body fat you have, the less likely it is that your insulin will work well. If insulin cannot work well, it does not lower the blood sugar. You may wonder if you should lose weight to lower your blood sugar. Pregnancy is not the right time to lose weight. Weight gain guidelines will be discussed at your visits. You can avoid high blood sugar by learning what, when and how much to eat. Eating food, even healthy food, can cause your blood sugar to rise. Some types of foods raise your blood sugar too high, too fast. Large amounts of certain food can also do this
Source: Sweet Success, California Diabetes and Pregnancy Program? CDAPP, 2014