Such a scenario is referred to as gestational diabetes if it occurs during pregnancy due to an insufficiency of insulin in the body because insulin is one of the hormones that regulate blood sugar. Whenever the body requires insulin, blood glucose levels would increase, which eventually causes this condition.
The common time for developing this condition is mid-gestation or the second half of pregnancy. Diagnosis is made through glucose screening tests. Risk factors are a prior history of gestational diabetes or obesity, having relatives with diabetes, or a family history of diabetes.
While gestational diabetes often disappears after delivery, both the mother and the baby are at risk from it. These risks include an increased chance for a bigger baby called macrosomia, which presents a challenge during delivery, and also an increased likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes later in the life of both. Its management includes dietetic adjustment, brisk exercise, and sometimes even insulin therapy. Early detection and proper management will ensure a healthy pregnancy.
Diabetes is a growing serious health problem globally, affecting people of almost all ages. Health experts say that disturbances in lifestyle and diet are considered to be the main reasons for this. From children to the elderly, everyone can become a victim. Health experts are concerned about the increasing risks of diabetes in women, especially the problem of diabetes during pregnancy is emerging as a big risk.
Statistics show that more than 537 million (about 53.7 crore) people worldwide are living with diabetes. Gestational diabetes accounts for a major portion of this.
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According to an estimate, more than five million (50 lakh) pregnant women may have diabetes. The number of women suffering from diabetes is expected to increase to 31 crore by the year 2040. Since the gestational diabetes affects the health of mother and child, proper control should be sought to control it in time.
Scientists have suggested an effective method through which a person can keep himself protected from the risk of diabetes by taking care of it, by publishing an ongoing research report about the prevention of diabetes which is increasing globally.
Prevention of Gestational Diabetes
A team of scientists from Sweden conducted a study to understand how diabetes can be avoided during pregnancy. Researchers found that more than half of the cases of gestational diabetes could be avoided if body weight was controlled. Scientists found that women who had a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 had a higher risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy.
On this basis, the researchers said, that if weight is controlled before pregnancy, not only can you avoid gestational diabetes, but pregnancy complications and side effects in children can also be reduced.
What do Researchers Say?
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden reported that obesity or overweight causes increased insulin resistance and decreased insulin secretion, which increases the risk of diabetes. Besides overweight condition, it can even improve many more problems associated with pregnancy.
Maryam Shirvanifer, author of the study published in The Lancet Public Health journal, said, “We have concluded that almost half of the cases of gestational diabetes can be prevented.” This study was conducted on women born in Sweden, although applies to all parts of the world.
Know about Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes, as the name suggests, is first diagnosed during pregnancy (pregnancy). Like other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes also affects health in many ways. Due to diabetes during pregnancy, the blood sugar level remains high, the effect of which is seen on the health of both the pregnant woman and the child.
If you have diabetes during pregnancy, sugar levels usually return to normal after delivery. However, such women are seen to have a higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes later in life.
Impact on Child’s Health
Due to diabetes during pregnancy, the baby may face problems of being overweight at birth. Many times, babies get stuck in the birth canal due to being overweight. Apart from this, complications can also lead to premature birth of a child which is considered to have many complications. Premature babies are at risk of many types of breathing-related problems.
Health experts say that by following measures like a healthy diet and exercise during pregnancy, you can control your weight, thereby avoiding the problems caused by diabetes.
Let Us Know Detailed Information About Gestational Diabetes
Pregnancy is one of those periods of joy and high expectations among most women. It does, however, come along with some challenges, which may be destructive to both the baby and the mother. One of these challenges includes gestational diabetes, an illness occurring in about 6–9% of pregnant women globally. Severe complications result from unchecked gestational diabetes, but proper management can be very essential in minimizing these risks.
In this blog, we have explained five critical risks of gestational diabetes that an expectant mother needs to know and how to prevent or control them to ensure healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Gestational Diabetes- What is it?
But let’s first define what gestational diabetes is. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes known to appear during pregnancy. That is, the body cannot produce enough amounts of insulin to control the blood sugar levels. Insulin is the hormone responsible for moving sugar glucose from the blood into cells for use as energy. Hormonal and weight gain changes in pregnancy may make the body less responsive to insulin, potentially leading to an increase in blood sugar levels.
Gestational diabetes is typically seen for the first time during the second or the third trimester but can resolve spontaneously after delivery. Still, such a case requires proper surveillance and control; otherwise, it may cause complications for both the mother and the baby.
Now that we know clearly what gestational diabetes is, let’s dig deeper into the five major risks that every prospective mother should know.
1. Greater Risk of Macrosomia or Birth Weight
That is often the most common complication of gestational diabetes, in which the baby grows too large for his or her gestational age, more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces; the baby usually has over 4,000 grams. Fetal macrosomia occurs when excess sugar molecules from the mother’s blood cross the placenta and reach the baby. The baby’s pancreas receives the extra sugar, producing extra insulin to remove this sugar; thus, the baby goes on to grow.
Why is macrosomia dangerous?
Difficult Delivery: A baby is way bigger than normal, and delivery can be especially challenging; for instance, shoulder dystocia, where the baby gets stuck in the pelvis. Shoulder dystocia very often results in protracted and labored labor, and delivery may have to be assisted by instruments such as forceps or vacuum extractors or in extreme cases be delivered via C-section.
Birth Injuries: Babies with macrosomia are prone to developing birth injuries in the form of fractures, nerve damage, or bruising while going down the birth canal is quite a task.
Greater Chance of Caesarean: Pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes may be exposed to a cesarean section, and the two major operations carry their complications, such as infection, extended recovery periods, and complications in later pregnancies.
How to Prevent Macrosomia
Check your blood sugar level, and maintain them at, or close to the target range, to avoid getting the baby too large.
Maintain a Healthy Diet: You will need to keep up your diet with plenty of vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. This can help maintain blood sugar in normal ranges. Your doctor might recommend following up with a dietitian for meal planning.
Regular Exercise is one of the most typical ways of improving the body’s ability to use more insulin efficiently and regulate blood sugar levels.
In some cases, lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise may not be adequate to control blood sugar levels. In these instances, medication or insulin can be used to regulate blood sugar levels. In this regard, an obstetrician prescribes either insulin or other drugs to deal with gestational diabetes.
2. Chances of Premature Birth
In addition, gestational diabetes may play a role in increasing the risk for preterm delivery. Preterm delivery refers to delivery earlier than 37 weeks of gestation. Several causes may lead to preterm delivery, such as high blood pressure, which is also referred to as preeclampsia, and a baby who is too large, initiating premature labor.
Why Is Preterm Birth a Problem?
Underdeveloped Organs: If not all the organs are developed in a premature birth, the most affected are the lungs. This baby will face a difficult time breathing on his own or respiratory distress syndrome, and the NICU will treat him with surfactant and breathing supports.
Feeding and Growth Issues: In fact, these babies characteristically characterize feeding and growth issues where their digestive system and reflexes might not have been fully developed. This usually attracts special types of feeding such as placing them under tube feeding to receive complete nourishment.
Susceptibility to infections: The preterm baby’s immune system is weak. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to infections at a higher scale, especially during the first weeks of life.
How to Reduce Your Chances of Premature Birth
Scheduled Prenatal Visits: In case something is taking a wrong turn, you get to have close, scheduled follow-ups with your healthcare provider on how your baby is developing and growing. They can step in early in case they indicate preterm labor.
It also affects blood sugar control by keeping blood sugar levels within bounds, which would decrease the risk of complications that might lead to preterm birth.
Monitoring for preeclampsia: Increased blood pressure together with the presence of protein in the urine defines preeclampsia. Gestational diabetic individuals are prone to preeclampsia. In case you get pregnant with preeclampsia, you may experience quite severe headaches, blurred vision, or swelling, which would necessitate a trip to your doctor immediately.
3. Type 2 Diabetes and Risk is More for the Older People
Being pregnant puts you and your unborn baby at risk for gestational diabetes. However, even after delivery, you’re also at an increased risk. The largest risk is developing type 2 diabetes later in life. According to studies, women who have had gestational diabetes are up to 10 times as likely to develop type 2 as women who haven’t had gestational diabetes.
Why Should I Worry About Gestational Diabetes Causing Type 2 Diabetes?
These hormonal changes result in gestational diabetes, which is an overt manifestation of a latent disposition to insulin resistance characteristic of type 2 diabetes. After the delivery, for most people, insulin sensitivity returns to normal, but the risk for type 2 diabetes continues to be higher than that in the general population.
How to Reduce the Risks of Developing Type 2 Diabetes
Keep A Healthy Weight: Weight loss after pregnancy (if needed) might significantly decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Healthy diet and exercise: Maintaining an appropriate diet with fiber, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, coupled with adequate exercises, will keep the blood sugar under proper control and less likely to have diabetes.
Postpartum Screening Women who have developed gestational diabetes should be screened with a glucose test six to 12 weeks after delivery to ensure blood glucose returns to normal. They should all undergo continued screening for diabetes one to three years later because the disease might progress and mark the onset of type 2 diabetes.
4. Complications That Can Present for the Newborn After Birth
Gestational diabetes can affect a baby even after delivery. A newborn whose mother has GD may be exposed to some of the following complications:
Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar)-This condition also leads to hypoglycemia in infants born to mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Infants develop hypoglycemia in the first days of life as a result of producing excess insulin that is produced to suppress excessive glucose within their mother’s body during pregnancy.
In the case of infants, this supply of glucose from their mother is terminated immediately after birth, and the resultant insulin levels may be higher enough to quickly reduce blood sugar.
Severe hypoglycemia may precipitate seizures or, if untreated, even brain damage. Careful monitoring and appropriate management of most babies render a complete recovery the rule, which could include feeding the baby or providing glucose intravenously.
Jaundice: Jaundice is a common condition among newborn babies, but the children of mothers suffering from gestational diabetes have a potential risk of the condition. The condition occurs when bilirubin levels are too high in the blood of the baby, which turns yellowish and the cornea of the eyes. In extreme cases, it may develop further into kernicterus and cause brain damage.
Respiratory Problems: Like any other condition, for example, babies whose mother is diagnosed with gestational diabetes are also susceptible to developing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) which often usually results from underdeveloped lungs, in particular, if they are born prematurely.
Steps to Reduce the Chances of Neonatal Complications
Proper Blood Sugar Management:-Right management of the blood sugar may reduce the risk of complications even further in newborns. This is because the baby is assured not to get excess glucose in the womb, and the baby will be at a reduced risk of hypoglycemia and other conditions.
Monitor Baby’s Health After Birth:- The health team will be carefully monitoring the baby’s blood sugars and overall health after delivery. Some babies require early feeding or intravenous glucose to prevent low blood sugar as the baby has used up all of the glucose he/she had in his/her liver in preparation for birth.
5. Risk of developing preeclampsia and hypertension.
Preeclampsia is an important condition that presents during the time of pregnancy due to high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and swelling, mostly to the hands and face. Pregnant women with gestational diabetes are at risk of preeclampsia. When such cases arise, they pose life-threatening implications for both mother and child unless properly managed.
Why Is Preeclampsia Dangerous?
Organ Damage: Organ damage is the characteristic feature of preeclampsia because dangerous effects of preeclampsia on the mother’s liver and kidneys occur. It also causes fluid collection in the lungs.
Placental Abruption: This is the separation of the placenta from the inner wall of the mother’s uterus before delivery. The sudden separation may cause severe bleeding, and it might be dangerous for both the mother and the baby.
Eclampsia: It can lead to eclampsia, which is a complication of preeclampsia when it is at its severe levels, which includes seizure; therefore it can result in death to the baby and the mother if treatment is not administered as soon as possible.
How to Prevent Preeclampsia
Monitor Blood Pressure: All gestational diabetic patients are supposed to also be followed up for blood pressure monitoring during pregnancy. The health care provider may prescribe lifestyle interventions or medications to the woman if her blood pressure is elevated.
Healthy lifestyle is a way to avoid high blood pressure in pregnancy through a well-balanced diet and regular exercise.
Medication: Low dose aspirin may be prescribed in the second trimester to reduce the risk of preeclampsia.
Conclusion
The hardest part with gestational diabetes as a diagnosis is that women should be aware of and reduce risk factors to both themselves and their babies’ health. Gestational diabetes management requires early detection, regulation of blood sugar levels, regular prenatal care, and health.
All these five critical complications of gestational diabetes can be effectively reduced with proper management, and they include macrosomia, preterm birth, type 2 diabetes, newborn complications, and preeclampsia. All these complications can be prevented by good management, thus every pregnant woman should be very cooperative with her healthcare provider for a smooth and complication-free pregnancy.
Knowledge is power, and staying abreast is the best way to avoid complications and enjoy a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Disclaimer
In this article, information related to a particular topic has been collected from various sources and the internet, the purpose of which, is only to increase the knowledge of the readers and it does not confirm the existence of any disease, particular statement, explanation, appropriateness, congruity, and information or any kind of treatment. Health Alpha does not take any responsibility for any such information.
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