Gestational diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce the insulin it needs during pregnancy. People with this condition develop high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
What is gestational diabetes?
During pregnancy, some people may develop high blood sugar levels. This condition is known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes typically develops between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates gestational diabetes occurs in 2% to 14% of pregnancies.
If you develop gestational diabetes, it doesn’t mean you had diabetes before your pregnancy or will have it afterward. But developing it does raise your risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
If poorly managed, gestational diabetes can also raise your child’s chance of developing diabetes. It can increase the possibility of complications for you and your baby during pregnancy and delivery.
What are the symptoms of gestational diabetes?
It’s rare for gestational diabetes to cause symptoms. A doctor may test for gestational diabetes if you have certain risk factors.
If you do experience symptoms, they’ll likely be mild. Diabetes symptoms may include:
- fatigue
- blurred vision
- excessive thirst
- excessive need to urinate
- yeast infections
What causes gestational diabetes?
Gestational diabetes occurs when your body cannot produce the insulin it needs during pregnancy. During pregnancy, your body produces larger amounts of some hormones, including:
- human placental lactogen (hPL)
- other hormones that increase insulin resistance
These hormones affect your placenta and help sustain your pregnancy. Over time, the amount of these hormones in your body increases. They may start to make your body resistant to insulin, the hormone that regulates your blood sugar.
Insulin helps move glucose out of your blood into your cells, where it’s used for energy. In pregnancy, your body naturally becomes slightly insulin resistant so more glucose is available in your bloodstream to be passed to the baby.
If the insulin resistance becomes too strong, your blood glucose levels may rise abnormally. This can cause gestational diabetes.
Who is at risk of gestational diabetes?
You may have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes if you:
- have high blood pressure
- have a family history of diabetes
- were overweight before you became pregnant
- are not physically active
- gain a larger than typical amount of weight during pregnancy
- are expecting multiple babies
- have previously given birth to a baby weighing more than 4kg
- have had gestational diabetes in the past
- have had an unexplained miscarriage or stillbirth
- have been taking steroids, like glucocorticoids
- have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), acanthosis nigricans, or another condition associated with insulin resistance
The risk of gestational diabetes increases with increasing body mass index (BMI). But people with high and low BMI can get gestational diabetes.
Source: https://www.healthline.com/health/gestational-diabetes#diagnosis
