Diabetes can develop during pregnancy, and is known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Gestational diabetes is not the same as type 2 diabetes although it behaves in very much the same manner. This condition is usually diagnosed during the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth week of pregnancy but if you already have diabetes before your pregnancy, your condition is known as pregestational diabetes.

The meaning of gestational diabetes is “high blood sugar first recognized during pregnancy” and three to ten per cent of all pregnant women will develop this condition. Symptoms include:

• extreme thirst
• extreme hunger, and
• fatigue

but these symptoms often go unnoticed. GDM is a common pregnancy related health condition and is in the same league as other problems that can develop in the second or third trimesters.

During pregnancy, hormones made by the placenta block insulin made by the mother’s pancreas. Then the pancreas works harder to produce more and more insulin; often the pancreas cannot keep up and blood sugar levels rise. It takes on the form of type 2 diabetes, therefore it can be managed in the same way, through diet and by monitoring blood sugar levels. Often insulin is prescribed as well … the good news is GDM usually disappears once the baby is delivered. Unfortunately gestational diabetes:

• reoccurs in two out of three future pregnancies
• can be how type 1 or type 2 diabetes is detected during the pregnancy
• may indicate you are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes and are likely to develop type 2 in the future

Diagnosing gestational diabetes mellitus:

Many health care practitioners believe all women should be given a glucose tolerance test between the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth week, regardless of their risk factors which would include:

• your mother had GDM
• you are of Aboriginal, Hispanic or African descent
• you have previously miscarried or had a stillbirth
• your previous baby weighed more than 9lb or 4000 grams
• you have high blood pressure
• you are overweight

Women who have diabetes during pregnancy are at a higher risk of needing a cesarean section … usually because they give birth to large babies. Large babies are often not able to fit through the birth canal because their shoulders get stuck. This is something to discuss with your health care provider prior to your due date.

Treatment is controlling your blood sugar levels:

• through diet
• exercise
• self monitoring of blood sugars, and
• insulin injections

No matter what type of diabetes you have, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or gestational diabetes, a healthy pregnancy will depend on how well you manage your blood sugar levels.

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