Gestational Diabetes Can Affect an Unborn Baby

A Health Care Article Contributed by Dr s Banerji

Doc Holiday Says "Gestational Diabetes Can Affect an Unborn Baby."

Some women develop reversible diabetes during pregnancy.

Gestational Diabetes Has a 4% Annual Incidence in the Us.

More than 100,000 women a year in the United States are found to have diabetes during pregnancy. Overweight women, those with a family history of diabetes or racial predisposition to the disease, are most vulnerable. Such gestational diabetes is often diagnosed after the third month of conception. A woman's body produces chemicals at this time that impairs the ability to use insulin and move glucose from blood to tissues.

Babies born of mothers with gestational diabetes are likely to have breathing trouble and could be overweight at birth. They could also have birth defects. Thirst, the urge to empty one's bladder frequently and tiredness are some common symptoms of diabetes but all expecting mothers may not feel or report such symptoms.

Hence the doctor is likely to ask for fasting and post glucose blood tests as a routine measure, in order to find out whether a woman has diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes is Often Simple to Manage.

Diet and exercise are adequate to manage most cases of gestational diabetes. Sugar intake is a big step towards managing diabetes in all people, including expecting mothers. Exclusion of table sugar, candies, other foods high in sugar, processed food and fried meat, can be difficult from the taste and food preference points of view, but essential in medical terms.

Milk, foods containing simple carbohydrates such as bread and fruits with low sugar content, such as apples and melons, should be part of daily diet. Small and relatively frequent meals are better than large and heavy ones after long intervals. A nutritionist can prepare sample diets to suit individual tastes.

Walking is the most effective and appropriate form of exercise for the control of gestational diabetes. Daily exercise may be broken in to 2 or 3 installments for expecting mothers who feel tired by long exercise as their pregnancy terms advance. Walking speed and duration should be stepped up gradually to build stamina and muscle tone. Walking exercise has a salutary effect on gestational diabetes, especially when accompanied by judicious diet.

Some women may need regular injections of insulin to buttress their diet control and exercise programs. Most doctors avoid asking expecting mothers to take oral medication for diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes, Like a Bad Penny, Has a Habit of Reappearing.

Gestational diabetes often disappears a few weeks after childbirth but reappears during the next pregnancy. Women who suffer from gestational diabetes are prone to have diabetes later in life. Excessive sugar and fat intake and a sedentary lifestyle, predispose women to the reappearance of diabetes.

It is therefore prudent to continue diet restrictions and regular exercise, even if gestational diabetes corrects itself after childbirth, to avoid recurrence of the condition when a woman is older. Diabetes in later life leads to a number of life-threatening consequences. So Fanny, get yer fat fanny off the couch and save yer life! Happy trails, sweetheart!