What Is Gestational Diabetes And How It Can Affect Your Baby

Gestational diabetes is a disease which normally affects pregnant women who never had diabetes previously but who have high level of blood sugar (glucose).

Unfortunately, there’s no accurate causes known for the occurrence of gestational diabetes among pregnant women so far, but there have been some clues.

One of the medical’s theories regarding this issue is that as the baby grows month by month, the placenta keeps on supporting the growing baby, and the baby is able to develop with the help from hormones released from the placenta. But these exact hormones are also the ones blocking the natural action of the mother’s insulin in her body, and this problem is known as ‘insulin resistance’. Since insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother’s body to use insulin, she might need over three times as much insulin.

When your body is no longer able to produce and use all of the insulin it requires for pregnancy, gestational diabetes will start to occur. Glucose won’t be able to leave the blood and be changed to energy without a sufficient amount of insulin. Glucose will then builds up in the blood and soar to a high level which is called hyperglycaemia. And sadly enough, gestational diabetes can also affect the baby inside your womb. Mothers in their late pregnancies will possibly be affected by gestational diabetes, after the baby’s body has been completely formed but while the baby is still busy growing inside.

Due to this situation, the kinds of birth defects that are sometimes seen in babies whose mothers have had diabetes prior to their pregnancies won’t be caused by gestational diabetes.

Meanwhile, poorly controlled or untreated diabetes will be able to hurt your baby. Your pancreas will work overtime in order to produce insulin when you’re having gestational diabetes, but the levels of your blood glucose won’t be lowered by the insulin produced. Even though the insulin won’t cross the placenta, glucose and other nutrients will. So when the extra blood glucose goes through the placenta, it’ll give the baby a high level of blood glucose. This might lead to ‘macrosomia’ or a ‘fat’ baby. Babies affected with macrosomia will face another set of health problems, including damaged shoulders during birth. Babies with excess insulin will be at risk for obesity and Type 2 diabetes when they grow up.