What is Gestational Diabetes 2021

Welcome to Medical Advice Channel, today’s article is going to be about Gestational Diabetes. Like the other type of diabetes, the normal way in which cells utilize insulin is altered, and this causes high levels of glucose in the affected person’s blood. Gestation is a scientific term that means, the expectancy period of an expectant mother. Therefore, if you are asked what is gestational diabetes, you can say that it is a type of diabetes that may develop in pregnant women. we can diagnose it for the first time during pregnancy.

While this seems like bad news to an expectant mother who only wants to have a safe pregnancy, there is good news. We easily manage gestational diabetes, through consumption of food considered to be a balanced diet, doing regular exercises so that you stay active and healthy, and sometimes, if necessary, the doctor might prescribe some medications to help you with the condition.

For most women with this type of diabetes, it will disappear soon after the delivery of their baby. If it fails to resolve after delivery, which might also happen, the patient is most at risk of developing Type II diabetes.

Note: If you have had gestational diabetes, you have a higher risk of developing Type II diabetes, and therefore, it is of the upmost importance that you do your blood sugar levels check regularly.

Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

Now, signs and symptoms of this type of diabetes are not as easily noticeable as in the other types of diabetes, but you should consult with your doctor when you notice that you have an increased feeling of thirst and, or an increased in the frequency of the urge to urinate that far abnormal.

This is why it is recommended that you should go for a regular checkup once you are expectant because a doctor will always gestational diabetes in mind when doing as a check up on you.

Causes of Gestational Diabetes

Up until today, scientist all over the world are still trying to find what there actual cause of gestational diabetes is, but research has shown that persons who have had excessive weight before pregnancy are more susceptible.

Also, as we know, hormones that are produced by our bodies are responsible for controlling the normal functioning of your body, like keeping your blood sugar levels in check. But during pregnancy, changes in these hormonal levels alter these functions therefore leading to increased your sugar levels.

Risk factors for Gestational Diabetes

Women that are are more risk of developing gestational diabetes include;

1. Those who have reduced or lack of physical activity.
2. Obesity (Being overweight).
3. Having a history of having prediabetes or, a history of gestational diabetes from previous pregnancies.
4. Having had a previous delivery, where the child’s weight was more than 4.1kgs.
5. Polycystic ovary syndrome.

Complications

Some of the complications that may occur form gestational diabetes include;

1. Preterm birth. This means, in simple terms, giving birth to your child in a shorter period of time, or before the due date. Early delivery may even be recommended when your unborn baby is large.
2. Baby having low blood sugar. This affects most children of mothers who had gestational diabetes. This occurs shortly after their birth. Having low blood sugar is also called hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemic babies may develop seizures. To counter this, the doctor will tell you to feed your child quickly to increase high sugar levels in the blood. The child might also be infused with glucose solution intravenously, which is a quicker method of raising their blood sugar levels.
3. Development of Respiratory distress syndrome, which makes it difficult for them to breath.
4. Development of Type II Diabetes. As we mentioned in the risk factors section, women who have gestational diabetes are at a higher risk of developing type II diabetes.
5. Obesity.
6. Stillbirth. Unborn babies are at risk of dying inside the womb, or shortly after birth. This is what we call stillbirth.
7. Excessive birth weight. Your baby might be born with a high birth weight of more than 4.1 kilograms. This is because, in gestational diabetes, there is a high amount of blood sugar in the blood that leads to the babies increased weight. This makes delivery very hard because the baby is too big to fit the birth canal. A cesarian section might be recommended to avoid injuries to both the mother and the child.

Prevention

A healthy lifestyle is key to managing and preventing this condition from affecting you. There is this famous quote that says;

Prevention is better than cure

Also read :::>>> How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle <<< :::

In order to take care of yourself and your unborn child, you can do the following to reduce the chances of developing gestational diabetes;

1. Eating healthy foods. I always stress this, great a balanced diet, always. Eat food that is rich in fibre with low fat. The food you eat should always be rich in whole grains, and most importantly, fruits and vegetables.
2. Keep your self throughout your day. Try and keep your self busy through the day, be it cleaning your house, going for a walk and many other activities. This is a good way of exercising your body, enabling it to utilise the glucose(blood sugar) in your blood.
3. Avoid gaining more than the recommended weight. You can do this by eating a healthy diet and exercising your body regularly.

Diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes

Some of the diagnostic tests performed for the diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes include;

1. A1C test
2. Fasting plasma glucose test
3. The A1C test
4. Random glucose test
5. Glucose challenge test
6. Oral glucose tolerance test.

For more on diagnosis and treatment of Gestational Diabetes and other types of diabetes, please read my simple, yet comprehensive article on Diabetes (click on the link).

I also have a great article on my blog, where I talk about Anemia. Here I talk about the types of anaemia, their management and prevention, you should check it out.