What is Gestational Diabetes

An estimated 5% of pregnant women develop a form of type 2 diabetes, usually temporary, in their trimester called Gestational Diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes is a type of diabetes which is only suffered by pregnant women. During pregnancy, the blood Glucose levels of some women are higher than normal due to the other hormones produced during the pregnancy and thus their bodies cannot produce enough insulin to absorb.

This type of diabetes mellitus affects approximately 2% of pregnant women. In most cases, this diabetes always develops during the 24th to 28th weeks (the second half stage) of pregnancy and disappears by itself once the baby is born. However, there are 25% of women who have gestational diabetes are most likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes later in life within 15 years.

Generally, pregnant women with gestational diabetes have normal blood sugar levels during the critical first stages of the pregnancy. The placenta produce hormones that hinder the action of the mother’s insulin probably trigger it. This disorder can result in babies who are larger than normal and the women and her baby might gain a greater risk for complications at the time of delivery.

Therefore, it is important to keep the levels of glucose in the blood under control through diet, insulin therapy or glucose-lowering medications.

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