Gestational Diabetes: What You Need to Know

Depending on your expected risk of gestational diabetes, you will be tested for this condition between sixteen and twenty four weeks. This condition develops when your body can't produce the extra insulin it needs for your baby, and it occurs in about one in twenty women. Gestational diabetes is so called because it occurs during pregnancy and does not continue after your baby is born. It exists for the term of your pregnancy, often reducing near the end, and you should’t worry that this means you will have diabetes in the future. However, if you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes you do need to take care of yourself and consider the fact that weight and age play a part.

The cause for concern with gestational diabetes is that high levels of sugar in the mother’s blood can cross the placenta, leading to a larger baby which in turn leads to possible delivery problems. Most pregnant women can control this condition through diet alone, while a certain number may need doses of insulin. Many women with gestational diabetes will need a Cesarean, but not all.