Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes found in women during pregnancy period. It is similar to other diabetes in which your blood sugar or blood glucose becomes too high. Glucose is essential for body for energy, but excess amount of glucose can be harmful. Particularly during your pregnancy period, higher amount of sugar is certainly not good for your baby. Gestational diabetes can be treated. If pregnant women can keep control of glucose levels, it can effectively decrease risk of gestational diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes Causes

• Gestational diabetes in pregnant women occurs due to the change in hormone and weight gain. It will generally occur during third trimester of pregnancy.

• Women develops some amount of impaired sugar intolerance due to change in hormones that occur during pregnancy. In such case, their blood sugar becomes higher than normal level. During third trimester of pregnancy, such hormonal changes result in gestational diabetes.

• To overcome the effect of pregnancy hormones on the level of blood sugar, women’s pancreas produce more insulin, nearly three times of the normal amount. When the pancreas fail to produce sufficient insulin, the blood sugar level apparently rises in the body.

Diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes

You can check your sugar level by doing some blood test. FBS or fasting blood sugar test is carried out early in the morning without eating anything to measure sugar in your blood. One other test is random blood sugar test in which your blood is tested during any time of the day.

PPBS test is also essential to check, which is tested after two hours of taking meal. You need to eat some sweet in meal to check sugar level precisely. Based on the test results, you are prescribed the medicines if you happen to have got gestational diabetes.

Treating Gestational Diabetes

• You can control your gestational diabetes by following the advice of your doctor properly. The sugar level can be controlled by avoiding sweets, foods and drinks with high sugar level.

• Avoid taking heavy meals twice in a day. Instead of that make a habit to eat food more often. Plan to eat three small meals and two to three snacks every day.

• Plan your diet, physical activities and medicines as suggested by your doctor to control your diabetes. Type of food, food quantity and timing are very important factor for controlling your sugar level.

• You should eat a well-balanced and healthy diet during pregnancy which includes more fiber. Eat fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain, cereals, and bread. Try to avoid saturated fats such as butter, fatty meats, cream, whole milk cheeses, etc. Take snacks that contain carbohydrates and protein.

• You can also consult experienced dietitian to get good guidance for your well-balanced diet.

• You need to do regular exercise to reduce diabetes. Walking is the best exercise for pregnant women. 

Who are at risk of developing Gestational Diabetes

Following women are at higher risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

• Woman with gestational diabetes in her previous pregnancy.
• Women with more than 30 BMI or high blood pressure.
• Older women
• Women with family history of diabetic type 2 or diabetic member in family like parent or sibling.

Effects of Gestational Diabetes on Baby

It is very essential to control sugar level during pregnancy period once you find gestational diabetes positive in your report. If you will not control your gestational diabetes, it may affect you and your baby.

It can cause a rise in baby's size. Heavy weight is harmful for mother and baby as in such cases a normal delivery can never take place. The baby can also suffer from jaundice or breathing problems.

Proper diet and exercise can prevent you and your baby from dangerous effects of Gestational Diabetes.