Gestational Diabetes and things you should know.

There was so much information I was coming across about this thing called gestational diabetes. I remember when I was expecting, I was asked by my gynecologist to get various blood tests and one of them involved checking about gestational diabetes. It definitely turned out negative and I was told that in most cases this goes away once you deliver but there are rare cases that need utmost care.

Gestational diabetes usually occurs between weeks 24 to week 28 of pregnancy. The term simply means that your blood sugar levels are higher than before but they were normal prior to pregnancy. This also doesn’t mean that your baby too will be affected, in most cases babies delivered are healthy and do not have diabetes. There are definitely things that make this more uncomfortable and tiresome than it sounds. It brings with it not only high blood sugar levels caused majorly due to hormonal imbalance but also brings with it, obesity in pregnancy, high blood pressure and can cause harm to both baby and mom.

A woman who is suffering from Gestational Diabetes has all three battles to be fought. It is impacting her physically, mentally and emotionally as well. If you know someone who is suffering from gestational diabetes the most you can do is support them in their journey and also educate yourself well about this condition.

Here are a few things that you may or may not know about gestational diabetes.  

It is not proportional to your weight. Yes, obesity can lead to this condition however not all obese or overweight women will have this. The condition is related more with how your body processes the glucose in the blood, rather than to your weight.

Insulin is not always needed. Insulin is not always the solution to regulate blood levels, the same can be regulated by modifying meal plans and adopting a healthy lifestyle. For women who do require insulin, it is mostly in smaller quantities.Having gestational diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t have a normal delivery. If this condition is carefully managed then it is not always necessary that a C-section is required. The C-section usually occurs when there is a difficulty in delivering the baby through the pelvis

It doesn’t last forever. Yes, the good news is that in most cases it doesn’t last forever. The ordeal is over as soon as you deliver your precious little one. In case it does resurface, it does so years later and that too in the form of Type 2 diabetes.

It’s common that you think it is. It’s not something to be celebrated, however, this situation is more common than you know or would have heard off. If this situation is well managed and controlled, there are chances that you will have a smooth delivery and will have a healthy baby.

It’s better to get it checked early. While the screening usually happens between weeks 24 to week 28, women who have had a history of gestational diabetes or who are obese should get it checked earlier too. This way, you will get a head start on your situation and how to handle it. The one who has faced this situation can only tell you how difficult or easy this is.

Pregnancy in itself is a different phase for every woman, while the journey carves memories, it also has some struggles that it brings with it. All that one can do is offer help and support to someone suffering from it and the one suffering from it should take all the care as listed by their medical practitioner. After all, there isn’t anything that a mother can’t conquer.