Gestational Diebeties Symptoms
Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year.
Normally, your stomach and intestines digest the carbohydrate in your food into a sugar called glucose. Glucose is your body’s main source of energy. After digestion, the glucose moves into your blood to give your body energy.
Most women with gestational diabetes don’t remain diabetic once the baby is born. Once you’ve had it, though, you’re at higher risk for getting it again during a future pregnancy and for becoming diabetic later in life.
Between three and eight per cent of pregnant women will develop gestational diabetes at week 24 to week 28 of pregnancy. Being diagnosed with gestational diabetes can be upsetting, but working closely with your doctor and health care team can help to lower your blood glucose levels and keep them within the normal range.
Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes
The most common gestational diabetes symptoms are increased urination, thirst, hunger and fatigue, as well as blurry vision, irritability, and weight loss. If you are experiencing one or more of these diabetes symptoms, contact your doctor.
Gestational diabetes doesn’t usually cause any symptoms. However, sometimes you may have symptoms of high blood sugar, such as:
1. A previous diagnosis of gestational diabetes or prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, or impaired fasting glycaemia
2. A family history revealing a first degree relative with type 2 diabetes
3. Maternal age - a woman’s risk factor increases as she gets older (especially for women over 35 years of age)
4. Fatigue, irritability, nausea and vomiting, and a particular odour to the breath (acetone or sweet).
Gestational Diabetes Diet
Having gestational diabetes during pregnancy can mean that too much sugar is passed to your developing baby, increasing their risk of becoming diabetic later in life. Following a well planned gestational diabetes diet can reduce this risk by controlling the level of sugar in your blood, and reducing the amount that is passed to your baby via the placenta.
The aim of a good pregnancy gestational diabetes diet is to ensure that you do not have to resort to insulin injections till it becomes absolutely necessary. Many women develop diabetes during pregnancy. They need to cut down on sugar and starchy food in their diet. A pregnancy gestational diabetes diet is different from the best pregnancy diet for women without diabetes. Take care of your calorie levels, and how much you are consuming daily as fats, sugar etc.
A gestational diabetes diet requires dietary modifications that the mother may not be used to but to control this form of diabetes it is essential. This is accomplished through individually developed dietary prescriptions based on metabolic nutrition and lifestyle requirements. Basic changes include reduced intake of simple sugars such as white table sugar and syrups.
The amount of calories, carbohydrate and other nutrients that you need depends on several factors. Some of these factors include your weight before pregnancy, your current weight gain, your current physical activity level, and your blood glucose level. A dietitian will tell you how much carbohydrate and nutrients you need each day.
