About gestational diabetes
According to the American Diabetes Association, gestational diabetes is one of the most common types of health problems for pregnant women, occurring in about four percent of all pregnancies. In the United States, about 135,000 women are diagnosed every year with gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes develops in stages, often becoming identifiable around weeks 24 to 28 of the pregnancy, when it is often routinely screened for. However, the condition can develop much earlier, some women are automatically at a higher risk if they have a family history of other forms of diabetes or if the have had gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy. Also, being significantly overweight increases the risk of diabetes.
The onset of gestational diabetes is related to hormonal activities that occur as the baby develops in the mother’s body. It is believed that hormones, produced during pregnancy, interfere with the activities of insulin, a different hormone that is needed to aid the mother’s cells to take glucose from her blood for use in the normal chemical actions that take place in cells. This is sometimes referred to as glucose intolerance or insulin resistance. In most cases, the mother-to-be can compensate for the increased glucose levels by producing more insulin to overcome the resistance. But that is not always the case.
In those fewer situations when the glucose cannot be taken up by the cells, it remains in the blood, accumulating to the above normal levels that characterize diabetes, an unhealthy and potentially dangerous condition if not taken care of, which fortunately, is not difficult to do.
The usual treatment involves diet and exercise and in some cases, if diet and exercise are shown to be inadequate, medications or insulin may be prescribed. The objective is to control the blood sugars levels and keep them from rising too far above normal.
Diet makes a difference
Some foods, especially those categorized as simple carbohydrates, are essentially sugars that are absorbed into the bloodstream and quickly cause elevated blood glucose levels. Those types of food items include the sweet and sugary snacks and desserts, cookies, cakes, pies, and soft drinks and such and those will need to be avoided to minimize the blood sugar problems.
In all cases, good nutrition is important during pregnancy. To deal with gestational diabetes, a dietitian, or other member of the healthcare team, will devise a personalized gestational diabetes diet that meets the nutritional requirements of mother and growing baby and also incorporates personal food tastes and preferences of the mother.
The special gestational diabetes diet will provide the necessary calories from a balanced source of nutrients that supply the appropriate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats together with vitamins, minerals, and fluids. The diabetes diet plan will also focus on managing weight gain to keep it within acceptable limits.
Problems arise from failure to lower blood sugars
Without the implementation of a gestational diabetes diet routine to maintain blood glucose within a safe range, new problems may arise. If the blood glucose levels stay high, an increase of insulin production will occur as the body automatically attempts to provide the extra insulin in response to the increased glucose load, and the body of the baby will also produce extra insulin in response to the glucose.
When more unused insulin is present in the baby, it causes more fat to be stored, an added problem because it can result in bigger, fatter babies that may require birth through caesarian section. And another possible problem can arise after the birth because the baby’s increased insulin and the possible continued production of insulin, may cause blood sugar levels in the baby to then fall dangerously low, a condition of hypoglycemia, not as dangerous as the high blood glucose levels of diabetes but something that must be dealt with promptly.
To do so will probably require breast-feeding of the baby within half an hour of birth or maybe a drip feed of sugar solution into the baby’s vein.
In conclusion
Whatever situations arise from gestational diabetes during pregnancy, its management, treatment, and control are well established medical procedures. Through the supervision and monitoring of the doctor and supporting healthcare team, the outcome will be a successful pregnancy, ending with the joy of a healthy new baby.
When the baby is born, In most cases the gestational diabetes ends.
For more information on the above topic please check out Gestational Diabetes Diet and also Diabetic Menu Guide for this and other related topics.