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How Can You Prevent Gestational Diabetes |
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Gestational diabetes most often appears during the
middle of the second trimester, or around 22 to 24 weeks. All pregnant
women are encouraged to take the 1 hour glucose tolerance test, or GTT,
around 22 weeks to check for gestational diabetes. The test includes
drinking a heavily sugared drink and then blood sugar levels being
tested through a blood draw one hour later. If the levels are higher
than desired, gestational diabetes is suspected and a second, longer
test is prescribed. This second test is 3 hours long and is known as the
3 hour GTT. If the levels are higher than desired after this test, the
woman is diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
All cases are treated differently, and there is no magic way to cure
gestational diabetes. Most women begin treatment by meeting with a
dietician and going on a strict lower carbohydrate diet. Usually, this
is enough to keep blood sugar levels in a normal range. However, some
women do require treatment through oral medications or insulin
injections. In addition, women will need to be seen by their doctors
more often for monitoring. Most likely, patients will need to be seen
about once per week and will also need to undergo non-stress tests
beginning at about 32 weeks of pregnancy.
Women with gestational diabetes are required to test their blood sugar levels at a minimum of 4
times per day – after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner and before
bed. Blood sugar levels are tested with a glucose monitor, which
requires a finger prick to extract a small amount of blood to put on a
test strip. Within 15 seconds, the blood sugar level is displayed.
Levels for a woman with gestational diabetes should be below 150 within
2 hours after eating and below 95 after fasting, or first thing in the morning.
Complications from gestational diabetes are an increased
chance of pre-eclampsia, babies with higher birth weights and broader
shoulders which may require a c-section, and stillbirth. The majority of
women diagnosed do not have any complications that arise. As long as
blood sugar levels are kept as close to normal as possible, the rest of
the pregnancy should be free of complications from gestational diabetes.
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