Gestational Diabetes

Summary

This video helps patients with gestational diabetes understand how they can get their blood glucose in a safe and healthy range for the remainder of their pregnancy. Understanding what gestational diabetes is, the risk factors, and the treatment plan (including home blood glucose and ketone monitoring, making healthy food choices, and increasing physical activity) are all part of this video. Basic information about labor and delivery are included. Insulin injection is addressed in a separate section at the end of the video.

Details

Gestational diabetes may occur anywhere from the sixth through the ninth month of your pregnancy. It is diagnosed when your level of blood glucose, or blood sugar, rises above the normal range.

Women are more likely to develop Gestational diabetes if they are:

• 25 years or older at their first pregnancy
• overweight before they became pregnant
• have a family history of diabetes
• have already had a baby that weighed more than nine pounds at birth
• of African American, Pacific Island, Hispanic, or Native American decent

Having diabetes means that you have too much glucose in your bloodstream.

Glucose, a form of sugar, is the fuel for the cells of our body.

How our bodies change food into energy.

Your blood vessels also carry glucose, oxygen, and other nutrients to your baby through an organ called the placenta.

The placenta releases hormones into your bloodstream that support a healthy pregnancy.

During the sixth through ninth months of pregnancy, this increase in hormones causes insulin resistance,
meaning cells are less open to receiving insulin. The pancreas needs to produce more insulin to move glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells. Most women produce enough extra insulin to keep their blood glucose level in a good range. If your pancreas cannot produce enough extra insulin, glucose stays in your bloodstream leading to high blood glucose, or hyperglycemia.

A high blood glucose level for the remainder of your pregnancy can cause problems for both you and your baby:

• increase in your baby's birth weight
• too much amniotic fluid
• developing high blood pressure during pregnancy

After birth your baby can experience a number of health problems including:

• low blood glucose
• low blood calcium and magnesium levels
• jaundice
• breathing problems

Keep your blood glucose in the normal range, gain an appropriate amount of weight during pregnancy, and avoid ketones.

Ketones appear in you urine when you are not eating enough food to provide fuel for you and your baby.

In order to achieve these goals, you and your diabetes care team will work together to create a
treatment plan especially for you.

Treatment plan:

• education
• making healthy food choices
• monitoring your blood glucose
• physical activity
• medications if necessary

You may also be asked to monitor your urine for ketones each morning.

Be aware if you take insulin and are physically active, you are at risk for hypoglycemia or low blood glucose.

Your healthcare provider may add insulin injections, in order to help control your blood glucose.
If you do take insulin it is very important to take it exactly as prescribed.

Call your healthcare provider immediately if you experience:

• high blood glucose
• fever
• severe headaches
• contractions
• vaginal bleeding
• blurred vision
• if you think your baby has stopped moving

Immediately after birth, your baby will be checked for hypoglycemia or any other complications.

Gestational diabetes:

• you have a 1 in 3 chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life
• have your blood glucose checked six to eight weeks after delivery
• have your blood glucose checked yearly and contact your healthcare provider if you experience any symptoms of hyperglycemia

Review of how to check your blood glucose.

Insulin:

• basic guidelines on how to store and use insulin
• a demonstration of injecting insulin, both a single and a mixed dose syringe and an insulin pen
• how to recognize and treat hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose