Can gestational diabetes be life threatening?
Gestational diabetes raises your risk of high blood pressure, as well as preeclampsia — a serious complication of pregnancy that causes high blood pressure and other symptoms that can threaten both your life and your baby’s life.
How does gestational diabetes cause fetal death?
The baby may grow slowly in the uterus due to poor circulation or other conditions, such as high blood pressure or damaged small blood vessels. The exact reason stillbirths happen with diabetes is not known. The risk of stillbirth goes up in women with poor blood glucose control and with blood vessel changes.
How common is stillbirth due to gestational diabetes?
Specifically, the study found that if you’re pregnant and have risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)—but you are not screened, diagnosed, or treated for it—you have up to a 44% increased risk of stillbirth. While these findings can be frightening, there is good news, too.
What happens if I ignore my gestational diabetes?
If untreated, gestational diabetes can cause problems for your baby, such as premature birth and stillbirth. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby’s born; but if you have it, you’re more likely to develop diabetes later in life.
At what blood sugar level does damage occur?
First, the numbers. “Post-meal blood sugars of 140 mg/dl [milligrams per deciliter] and higher, and fasting blood sugars over 100 mg/dl [can] cause permanent organ damage and cause diabetes to progress,” Ruhl writes.
Can gestational diabetes cause maternal mortality?
Gestational diabetes is associated with maternal mortality and morbidity, meaning there is a higher risk of women dying in pregnancy and of serious complications during pregnancy and delivery.
Is gestational diabetes considered high risk pregnancy?
Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), may need high-risk pregnancy care due to complications that can arise during pregnancy and childbirth. Women with GDM have an increased risk of preeclampsia, a condition that leads to pregnancy-induced high blood pressure.
How do diabetics feel when their sugar is high?
Hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) means there is too much sugar in the blood because the body lacks enough insulin. Associated with diabetes, hyperglycemia can cause vomiting, excessive hunger and thirst, rapid heartbeat, vision problems and other symptoms. Untreated hyperglycemia can lead to serious health problems.
How long does it take diabetes to cause nerve damage?
Significant nerve problems (clinical neuropathy) can develop within the first 10 years after a diabetes diagnosis. The risk of developing neuropathy increases the longer you have diabetes. About half of people with diabetes have some form of neuropathy.
What happens to the baby if the mom has gestational diabetes?
Because of the extra insulin made by the baby’s pancreas, newborns may have very low blood glucose levels at birth and are also at higher risk for breathing problems. Babies born with excess insulin become children who are at risk for obesity and adults who are at risk for type 2 diabetes.
Does gestational diabetes get worse as pregnancy progresses?
If you were diagnosed earlier than 26 weeks, then you may see a big raise in insulin resistance at around this time. Following diagnosis, levels may fluctuate, there may be times where insulin resistance eases slightly and doesn’t seem as bad. Then insulin resistance increases and levels worsen again.
What happens if you have gestational diabetes?
If you have gestational diabetes, your baby is at higher risk of: Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. However, about 50% of women with gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes. You can lower your risk by reaching a healthy body weight after delivery.
Who is at risk for gestational diabetes?
If the insulin resistance becomes too strong, your blood glucose levels may rise abnormally. This can cause gestational diabetes. Who is at risk for gestational diabetes? How is gestational diabetes diagnosed? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) encourages doctors to routinely screen pregnant women for signs of gestational diabetes.
Do you have to take insulin when you have gestational diabetes?
Sometimes a woman with gestational diabetes must take insulin. If insulin is ordered by your doctor, take it as directed in order to help keep blood sugar under control. Get Tested for Diabetes after Pregnancy
How to prevent gestational diabetes during pregnancy?
Follow a healthy eating plan to nourish you and your baby. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy in women who don’t already have diabetes. Every year, 2% to 10% of pregnancies in the United States are affected by gestational diabetes.