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If you have gestational diabetes, it’s best if you consult a registered dietitian to help you design a reasonable diet plan one that will address the gestational diabetes but still provide your growing baby with sufficient calories and nutrients. In addition to adjusting your diet, reasonable exercise (approved by your health care provider) four to five times a week also helps the body use insulin more efficiently, which helps control blood sugar levels.

Your dietitian will recommend the number of total daily calories appropriate for a woman your height and weight. About 2,200 to 2,500 calories per day is usually recommended for women of average weight. Overweight women may be asked to stick to diets of about 1,800 calories per day.

Your dietitian will teach you how to balance your diet, probably suggesting that about 10% to 20% of your calories come from protein sources (meats, cheeses, eggs, seafood, and legumes); less than 30% of your calories come from fats (with less than 10% of those from saturated fats); and the rest of your calories should be from carbohydrate sources (breads, cereals, pasta, rice, fruits, and vegetables).

Exercise:Exercise lowers your blood sugar level by transporting sugar to your cells, where it’s used for energy. Exercise also increases your sensitivity to insulin, which means your body needs less insulin to transport sugar to your cells. And there’s more. Regular exercise can help prevent some of the discomforts of pregnancy, such as back pain, muscle cramps, swelling, constipation and difficulty sleeping. It can also help prepare you for labor and delivery.

With your doctor’s OK, aim for moderate aerobic exercise on most days of the week. If you haven’t been active for a while, start slowly and build up gradually. Walking, cycling and swimming are often good choices during pregnancy. Ordinary activities such as housework and gardening also count.

Diet:Eating the right kind and amount of food is one of the best ways to control your blood sugar level. Making healthy food choices also helps prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy, which can put you at higher risk of complications.

A healthy diet often means including more fruits, vegetables and whole grains foods that are high in nutrition and low in fat and calories into your diet and limiting carbohydrates including sweets. Even so, no single diet is right for every woman. You might want to consult a registered dietitian or a diabetes educator to create a meal plan based on your blood sugar level, height, weight, exercise habits and food preferences.

Blood Sugar Monitoring:Your health care provider may ask you to check your blood sugar level four to five times a day first thing in the morning and after meals to make sure you’re keeping your blood sugar within a healthy range. This may sound inconvenient and difficult, but it’ll get easier with practice. To test your blood sugar, you draw a drop of blood from your finger using a small needle (lancet), then place the blood on a test strip inserted into a blood glucose meter a device that measures and displays your blood sugar level.

Your health care provider will also monitor your blood sugar level during labor. If your blood sugar rises, your baby may release high levels of insulin which can lead to low blood sugar right after birth.

The list of treatments mentioned in various sources for Gestational diabetes includes the following list. Always seek professional medical advice about any treatment or change in treatment plans.

1.Consideration for delivery at, or just before term
2.Increased obstetric surveillance
3.Insulin
4.Ketone testing
5.Self monitored blood glucose testing
6.Diabetic blood sugar control
7.Exercise with care and under medical advice; take extra care if using insulin.
8.Diet changes

Once a physician confirms gestational diabetes, the most common treatment option to consider is establishing a dietary meal plan designed to lower the glucose level in the body. This would mean avoiding sweets and indicating the proper amount of foods to eat, with specific food choices outlined and a schedule for eating at regular times. Common foods that can help reduce diabetes are foods high in fiber, such as fruits and vegetables, cereals, and whole grain crackers.

Physicians usually advise women with gestational diabetes to carry out physical activities that will help reduce weight as a natural form of management for the illness. Walking and swimming are good exercises for pregnant women. In some pregnant women who need to meet their target blood glucose level, diet plans and exercise may not be sufficient. Thus, they will likely require to take insulin as an added form of treatment.