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Diabetes – What are Diabetes Problems in Pregnancy? | How Does Diabetes Effect for Delivery? | Diabetes During Pregnancy

If you have diabetes, your body cannot properly use the food you eat for energy.
When you have diabetes during pregnancy, it is called gestational diabetes.
When you eat, your body breaks down the foods into a form of energy called
glucose. Glucose is another word for sugar. The glucose goes into your blood and
your blood sugar rises.Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas. It helps glucose move from your blood into your body’s cells so your body can use it for energy. You cannot live without insulin.With diabetes, you and your baby do not get the energy you need from the food you eat. High blood sugar during pregnancy can be harmful to you and to your baby. You will have blood tests done to check your glucose level.

This factsheet is for women who want to know more about diabetes that develops in pregnancy. It doesn’t give advice for women who already have diabetes and would like to become pregnant.Diabetes can develop during pregnancy in a woman who hasn’t previously had the condition. This is called gestational diabetes, and it affects around two percent of pregnant women. It can lead to problems for the mother and baby if it isn’t properly controlled.Nearly 9 out of 100 women in the United States have diabetes.About 3 out of those 9 don’t know it.

It’s very important for all women to see their health provider regularly to watch for this disease and learn how to manage it.If you have diabetes and are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, your health care provider will want to take extra special care of you. Pregnant women who have diabetes before pregnancy are considered to have a high risk pregnancy.A high risk pregnancy doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have problems. Instead, it means that your health provider will pay special attention to your health and may work with other specialized health providers to help you have a healthy pregnancy.

If diabetes is poorly controlled early in the pregnancy, the risk of an early miscarriage and significant birth defects is increased. Babies born to diabetic women tend to be larger than those born to women without diabetes however, if diabetes is poorly controlled, fetal growth can be excessive. A large fetus is less likely to pass easily through the vagina and is more likely to be injured during vaginal delivery. Consequently, cesarean delivery is often necessary. The fetus’s lungs also tend to mature slowly. The risk of preeclampsia is also increased for women with diabetes.Newborns of women with diabetes are at increased risk of having low sugar, low calcium, and high bilirubin levels in the blood.

A full term pregnancy is 40 weeks, but with diabetes labour is often induced at 38 to 39 weeks to reduce the risk of stillbirth. As a result, Caesarean section deliveries are more common.Most babies born to mothers with diabetes don’t require special care, although special attention is given to ensure the baby is not hypoglycaemic at birth.Insulin treatment or metformin is usually stopped after the birth, because insulin resistance ends.Another glucose tolerance test can be done at the six week postnatal check, to see if treatment needs to continue.

It’s possible that your blood sugar levels will stay too high even if you make lifestyle changes. You may need daily injections of insulin if this happens. Your doctor or specialist nurse will teach you how to do this.It’s possible to have too much insulin and this can cause low blood sugar. Common symptoms of this are paleness, shaking, hunger and sweating. Your doctor or specialist nurse will explain how to recognise the symptoms of hypoglycaemia, and what to do if it happens. For example, keeping a sugary soft drink handy is a good idea.Occasionally, low blood sugar can cause you to lose consciousness, and you will need an injection if this happens.It’s a good idea for your family and friends to know what to do if your blood sugar gets very low and you pass out.

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