After Pregnancy with Gestational Diabetes
August 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under Pregnancy Articles
Your blood sugar will most likely return to normal after delivery. But gestational diabetes is a warning sign that you are at risk for getting diabetes later in life. You’re also more likely to have gestational diabetes with your next pregnancy. But you can take steps to reduce these risks.
Taking Care of Yourself
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Even if your blood sugar goes back to normal, you still need to take care of yourself. This will help prevent diabetes later in life.
Keep your weight down. Eating food that is low in fat and sugar can help you control your weight. If you’re overweight, your risk of getting diabetes in 10 to 15 years more than doubles. Keeping your weight down also reduces your risk of having gestational diabetes with your next pregnancy.
Get regular exercise. Exercise helps lower your blood sugar. It can also help you control your weight.
Have your blood sugar checked. Make an appointment to have your blood sugar checked about 6 to 8 weeks after delivery.
Have regular diabetes screenings. Get checked every year, or as often as your healthcare provider advises.
Breastfeeding
Breast milk is the best food for your baby. Breastfeeding may also help lower your blood sugar. Your healthcare provider can show you how to breastfeed. Be sure to eat a good diet and drink extra fluids while you’re breastfeeding.
Planning Future Pregnancies
You need to be sure your blood sugar is back to normal before you get pregnant again. Have your blood sugar checked before you plan your next pregnancy. And remember that it’s possible to get pregnant again soon after delivery. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best method of birth control for you and your partner.
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Diabetes, Pregnancy and Fertility
August 4, 2010 by admin
Filed under Pregnancy Articles
http://infertilityhospital.blogspot.com
Before insulin was available, most diabetic women were sterile, or, if they became pregnant, aborted. Half of the babies and one-fourth of the mothers died if they went to term. Today, if they are adequately supervised, less than 1 percent of pregnant diabetic women die of diabetes during pregnancy or the puerperium.
Diabetic women do suffer from an increased incidence of preeclampsia, infections, and hydramnios (excessive amniotic fluid). Abnormalities of labour are increased because the babies tend to be unusually large, and congenital abnormalities of the fetus are more common, as is hydramnios; hydramnios is a problem in 25 percent or more of diabetic women [see Pregnancy Miracle Book].
Untreated diabetes is associated with a high incidence of fetal defects, abortion, stillbirths, premature labour, and excessively large babies. Even with diet and insulin, more than 50 percent of the babies delivered by diabetic women weigh over eight pounds at birth. Even though they appear healthy at birth, many of them are not as strong as smaller babies whose mothers are not diabetic. Fetal loss is greater if the mother became diabetic in childhood, if she has been diabetic for a long time, or if she has vascular or kidney disease.
Pregnancy frequently has an adverse effect on diabetes, and diabetes may first become evident during pregnancy. There is a tendency for the carbohydrate metabolism of the diabetic patient to be upset. Most diabetics need more insulin during gestation; a few, for reasons not understood, need less.
The changing condition from day to day makes some diabetics, who have no problem maintaining a balance when they are not pregnant, difficult to treat. Even so, adequate medical supervision can bring most diabetics and their babies safely through pregnancy.
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What type of diabetes happens during pregnancy?
April 7, 2010 by admin
Filed under Pregnancy Questions
Like the question states, what type of diabetes happens during pregnancy.
More importantly, why does the head of most babies are usually abnormally large after such a pregnancy?
I am more looking for an answer on why there heads are usually large after such a pregnancy.
It is a question my teacher has been asking and he wants to know why.
Gestational Diabetes
October 5, 2009 by Moses Wright
Filed under Pregnancy
Diabetes that develops during pregnancy is called gestational diabetes. If a woman has diabetes before she is pregnant, this is called pre-existing diabetes, not gestational diabetes.
About four percent of all pregnant women develop gestational diabetes. The cause of gestational diabetes is not completely understood, but it may have to do with hormones that help the baby develop but have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the mother’s natural insulin in her body.
Birth defects are not a risk of gestational diabetes since gestational diabetes occurs late in the pregnancy. Since gestational diabetes increases the baby’s size, the baby may be at increased risk of injury during birth.
Newborns whose mothers had gestational diabetes are at an increased risk for breathing problems. Newborns may also have very low blood glucose levels at birth and may be at risk for childhood obesity and type II diabetes in adulthood.
Timed blood tests and consuming a glucose solution are part of testing for gestational diabetes. Typically, blood sample is drawn at the beginning of the test and one hour after the pregnant woman drinks a glucose solution. More blood tests after longer periods of time may also be done.
Diabetic diets are the first treatment for gestational diabetes. The obstetrician may have the pregnant woman with gestational diabetes meet with a dietician or nutritionist who will devise a diabetic diet.
The diabetic diet typically includes three meals and two snacks each day. The diet usually specifies how many servings of each food group should be eaten with each meal and snack. The dietician may provide a food exchange list that includes suggestions and serving sizes for each food group.
Multiple times a day, the pregnant woman with gestational diabetes will need to check her blood sugar levels. These readings are then reported to the doctor’s office where they will be used to determine if the gestational diabetes is under control. If the gestational diabetes is not effectively managed with a diabetic diet, insulin injections may be necessary.
Women and newborns rarely have lasting effects from gestational diabetes after birth. The woman may have an increased risk of type II diabetes. The effects of gestational diabetes are usually minimal if it is properly managed.