Lifestyle Diseases - Gestational Diabetes

Lifestyle Diseases - Gestational Diabetes

Gestational Diabetes

When blood sugar, or blood glucose, levels rise too high during pregnancy, the medical name for this is gestational diabetes. The hormonal changes that can cause it usually begins around the 20–24th week of pregnancy, in the second trimester.
Inflated levels of glucose in the bloodstream could cause difficulties for the pregnant person and their unborn baby. This is why a doctor must diagnose gestational diabetes promptly to ensure that blood glucose levels are stable.

Women who take insulin shots or take the medicine glyburide are at risk for low blood sugar levels. Most women with gestational diabetes do not have problems with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). If your blood sugar (glucose) drops very low, make sure to get treated immediately so that neither you nor your baby is harmed.

Women with gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of complications during pregnancy and at delivery. These women and possibly their children are also at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the future