Diabetes can occur during pregnancy, this is known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This occurs between the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth week of pregnancy. If you had diabetes prior to your pregnancy, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it is known as pre-gestational diabetes, which is a completely different story in that risks to the fetus exist throughout the pregnancy.
Technically the definition of gestational diabetes is "high blood sugar which is first diagnosed or recognized during pregnancy". Research reports 3 to 12% of all pregnant women will develop gestational diabetes between the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth week of their pregnancy.
The symptoms of gestational diabetes are:
Extreme thirst
Hunger
Fatigue
But along with all the other changes taking place during pregnancy, many women do not notice these symptoms.
Gestational diabetes is not the same disease as type 2 diabetes, although it usually acts in the same way. It is a condition that occurs during pregnancy in which the body becomes resistant to the insulin it makes. It can often be managed through changes in diet and meal planning. It often disappears after the pregnancy has ended.
What you need to realize is gestational diabetes is often a warning sign, and unless lifestyle and dietary habits change after childbirth, type 2 diabetes will be "in the cards" in your future.
Statistics show:
If you return to your pre-pregnancy weight and continue to follow a healthy lifestyle, then your chances of developing type 2 diabetes within 10 years are just one in four
If before your pregnancy you were overweight or obese and continue to be so after delivery, you have a 60% chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 10 years.
What causes GDM?
Hormones made by the placenta can actually block the insulin made by your pancreas during pregnancy. This then forces your pancreas to work harder and harder to produce much more insulin than usual. Often the pancreas is not able to keep up and your blood sugar levels rise.
Many experts believe it is the natural weight gain which contributes to insulin resistance as your pancreas is unable to keep up with the additional weight.
How is GDM Managed?
As GDM takes the form of type 2 diabetes it can be managed through diet and blood sugar monitoring. However, recent research shows two-thirds of women with gestational diabetes required insulin. Usually GDM disappears once you deliver, but it recurs in future pregnancies.
Sometimes GDM uncovers a case of type 2 diabetes, or even type 1, that has not been previously diagnosed. But if you are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes, you are more than likely to develop type 2 in the future. As well, if you have GDM, you are also at risk of developing other pregnancy-related complications such as:
High blood pressure
Pre-eclampsia
Polyhydramnios which is too much amniotic fluid
So, if you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, it is wise to seek out an experienced obstetrician.
Treatment for GDM is controlling blood sugar levels through diet, exercise and insulin if necessary, plus self-monitoring of your blood sugars. Unfortunately gestational diabetes is destined to return in following pregnancies approximately 80% of the time unless you manage to get yourself into good shape between pregnancies. If not, each subsequent bout of gestational diabetes is more severe than the previous one.
Family planning, therefore, is essential if you have had gestational diabetes... before conception you would need to have control of your blood sugar levels.
Would you like more information about alternative ways to handle your type 2 diabetes?
To download your free copy of my E-Book, click here now: Answers to Your Questions ...its based on questions many diabetics have asked me over recent months.
Beverleigh Piepers is a registered nurse who would like to help you understand how to live easily and happily with your type 2 diabetes.
http://drugfreetype2diabetes.com/blog
Copyright. (c) 2010 Beverleigh H Piepers RN - All Rights Reserved Worldwide
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