Diabetes Resource Association

Diabetes sometimes develops during pregnancy. This type of diabetes is called gestational diabetes.  Since this type of diabetes does not have any external symptoms, it is usually “discovered’ during a screening specifically carried between the 24t^h and 30^th weeks of pregnancy. This is normally the only way to find out whether you are suffering from diabetes while pregnant.

What Happens If You Find Out You Have Gestational Diabetes?

It is quite scary to find out that you are a diabetic patient while you are pregnant since you are already coping with sufficient changes in your body and mind. However, what is done is done and you most learn to deal with it most effectively. And when you find out about it, you should immediately take adequate measures to control it well enough not to create any difficulties for you or the unborn baby.

It has been found that diabetes does not usually affect the baby adversely. However, the babies of a diabetic mother tend to be rather large and hence the would-be mother may have birth related complications due the size of the baby.

How Do You Treat Gestational Pregnancy?

The best tool to fight diabetes is still the diet. With the right diabetes diet while pregnant, the disease will not create too much disturbance. However, the diabetes diet while pregnant should be very carefully worked out so that both the would-be-mother and her baby are no deprived of any major nutrients. A dietician’s help may be enlisted to work out the best diabetes diet while pregnant so as to include not only the required nutrients but also avoid to a large extent the sugar build up in the blood.

Your doctor will tell you what symptoms to watch for. You should also learn to watch the levels of sugar carefully so as to use insulin whenever necessary. The insulin will need to be injected from time and hence you will also know how to inject yourself.  There are homemade kits that can be used safely to measure the glucose in the blood. You should know how and where to puncture for taking the drop of blood for the kit. You should be careful that you do not cause any infection by taking this test.

This along with the right diabetes diet while pregnant will ensure that you keep the diabetes in check throughout the time of pregnancy. You should have your doctor within your reach all the time so as to avoid any type of complications.

According to the American Association of Diabetes, there are two types of diabetes. Type I and Type II. The first one affects, mostly, children and adolescents, and the second often affects older overweight adults. The extreme cases are reserved for people with genetic problems.

But, what about diabetes and pregnancy? Is it possible for a pregnant mother to acquire diabetes during pregnancy? Should a diabetic mother get pregnant? Is there a relation between diabetes and pregnancy? As a matter of fact, a woman who suffers from diabetes should consider very carefully prior to getting pregnant since it implies a lot of discipline and risk.

A Third Type of Diabetes?

Setting aside Type I and Type II diabetes, mothers who wish to have a baby, there is another possibility for acquiring diabetes. Also known as gestational diabetes, it is developed in the late stages of pregnancy. Although this type of diabetes goes away after the baby has been born, the mother has a higher probability of acquiring Type II diabetes later in her life.

So, there is a relation between diabetes and pregnancy, after all. Any future mother should be very careful about this condition. It is similar to Type II diabetes since the body resists the assimilation of insulin. The symptoms are a bit different from the typical victim of diabetes Type II.

A mother with gestational diabetes will notice an abnormal increase in weight. This is because the baby will increase its fetal urination due to the high levels of glucose in the blood. Generally, pregnant women have a diabetes test between the 24^th and 28^th week of pregnancy to ensure that they are not affected.

This kind of diabetes is very rare. It only affects 2% to 3% of the total population of pregnant women. There are some factors that increase the risk of acquiring gestational diabetes.  For example, being overweight, the age of the mother (the risk increases as the mother gets older), a family history of Type II diabetes, native background, gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy or a previous pregnancy were the child weighed 9 pounds or more.

What Should a Mother Do When Diabetes and Pregnancy Mix?

Statistics show that as much as 40% of the women, who have suffered from gestational diabetes, will develop Type II diabetes in a period of 5 to 10 years. If you don’t want to suffer from this disease, consult your doctor and follow his directions strictly. Although you can have a normal life with Type II diabetes, it’s better to avoid it.