Screening for gestational diabetes – During your first antenatal appointment (also called a booking appointment) at around week 8 to 12 of your pregnancy, your midwife or doctor will ask you some questions to determine whether you’re at an increased risk of gestational diabetes.
- If you have 1 or more risk factors for gestational diabetes you should be offered a screening test.
- The screening test is called an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), which takes about 2 hours.
- It involves having a blood test in the morning, when you have not had any food or drink for 8 to 10 hours (though you can usually drink water, but check with the hospital if you’re unsure).
You’re then given a glucose drink. After resting for 2 hours, another blood sample is taken to see how your body is dealing with the glucose. The OGTT is done when you’re between 24 and 28 weeks pregnant. If you’ve had gestational diabetes before, you’ll be offered an OGTT earlier in your pregnancy, soon after your booking appointment, then another OGTT at 24 to 28 weeks if the first test is normal.
How can I check my gestational diabetes at home?
What are the treatment options for gestational diabetes? – If you have gestational diabetes, your doctor will monitor your condition frequently. They’ll use sonograms to pay close attention to your baby’s growth. During pregnancy, you may also self-monitor at home.
- You can use a tiny needle called a lancet to prick your finger for a droplet of blood.
- You then analyze the blood using a blood glucose monitor,
- People usually perform this test when they wake up and after meals.
- Learn more about diabetes home tests.
- If lifestyle changes with diet and increased exercise aren’t working to reduce blood sugar levels, your doctor may recommend that you administer insulin injections,
According to the Mayo Clinic, between 10 and 20 percent of pregnant women with gestational diabetes need this type of help to bring their blood sugar down. Your doctor may also prescribe oral medication to control your blood sugar.
Do you gain more weight with gestational diabetes?
Published by: – Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on, We were unable to process your request.
Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact [email protected], Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk for developing gestational diabetes, according to findings published in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation, “The amount of gestational weight gain in the first trimester and before gestational diabetes screening did not change the risk of developing gestational diabetes,” Tai-Ho Hung, MD, PhD, director of maternal fetal medicine in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and colleagues wrote.
“Interestingly, women with gestational diabetes had significantly less gestational weight gain in the second trimester, after gestational diabetes screening and throughout gestation than women without gestational diabetes.” Source: Adobe Stock Researchers conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of women who underwent gestational diabetes screening and delivered after 28 weeks of gestation at Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from 2012 to 2016. Pregnant women were screened for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation with a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test with the exception of high-risk women, who underwent screening at the first prenatal visit.
Gestational diabetes was diagnosed if plasma glucose exceeded 92 mg/dL at fasting, 180 mg/dL after 1 hour and 153 mg/dL after 2 hours. Prepregnancy height and weight were used to calculate pregestational BMI. First trimester gestational weight gain was the difference between weight before pregnancy to 12 to 14 weeks of gestation.
Second trimester weight gain was the difference in weight from 12 to 14 weeks and 26 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. Gestational weight gain before diabetes screening was calculated as the difference between prepregnancy weight and weight at screening. Weight gain after screening was defined as the difference between weight at delivery and the weight at gestational diabetes screening.
- Excessive gestational weight gain was defined as weight gain above the 90th percentile of women in the same BMI category before pregnancy and during gestation, or based on gestational weight gain guidelines by the Institute of Medicine in 2009.
- Of 8,352 women included in the analysis, 1,129 developed gestational diabetes.
Women with gestational diabetes had a lower mean weight gain during the second trimester, after diabetes screening and during the entire pregnancy compared with women without gestational diabetes. There were no differences in weight gain during the first trimester and before gestational diabetes screening.
Women with a high prepregnancy BMI and gestational diabetes had a lower rate of excessive weight gain in the second trimester compared with women without gestational diabetes, with no difference in the other time points. No association was found between excessive gestational weight gain and the development of gestational diabetes in all trimesters.
There were still no associations observed when models were restricted only to women with excessive or adequate gestational weight gain. There was also no association found between increasing gestational weight gain and the development of gestational diabetes in trend analysis, regardless of prepregnancy BMI.
The researchers wrote that possible explanations for the findings are women who were at high risk for developing gestational diabetes were more likely to be educated about appropriate weight gain during pregnancy, and possible changes in the components of gestational weight gain such as the development of the fetus and placenta, expansion of maternal blood volume and extracellular fluid, enlargement of the gravid uterus and mammary glands, and increased maternal adipose tissue.
“Although women with excessive gestational weight gain are more susceptible to pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, our results indicate that excessive gestational weight gain is not a significant risk factor for gestational diabetes,” the researchers wrote.
“Further prospectively designed studies, particularly on Asian populations, and the use of International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria for gestational diabetes are needed to confirm our findings.” ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on,
We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact [email protected],
Is gestational diabetes high risk pregnancy?
Gestational Diabetes: Managing Risk During and After Pregnancy Contributor: Ellen Seely, MD, is Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), may need high-risk pregnancy care due to complications that can arise during pregnancy and childbirth.
Can gestational diabetes be caused by stress?
1. Introduction – Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as carbohydrate intolerance resulting in hyperglycemia with first onset or detection during pregnancy, accounting for 86% of hyperglycemia during pregnancy, Compared to healthy pregnant women, pregnant women with GDM are more likely to develop maternal and infant complications and are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and metabolic disorders after delivery,
The mental health problems of pregnant women, especially the mental state of GDM, a high-risk group, have attracted a great attention from scholars all over the world. Studies in this population show that apart from physiological factors, anxiety and depression are also important causes of gestational diabetes,
However, there is no unified conclusion regarding the correlation between anxiety and depression and GDM. On the one hand, the study found that anxiety and depression can lead to chronic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hyperactivity, resulting in increased release of cortisol and insulin resistance, increasing risk of developing GDM in pregnant women.
- At the same time, the diagnosis of GDM may increase the risk of antenatal or postnatal depression through a reverse mechanism,
- This suggests that there may be a two-way relationship between gestational diabetes and anxiety and depression.
- However, on the other hand, some studies believe that anxiety and depression do not increase the incidence of GDM in pregnant women, and the diagnosis of GDM does not increase the risk of prenatal or postnatal depression,
There is currently no consensus on the relationship between anxiety and depression and GDM. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the relevant literature to further explore the bidirectional relationship between anxiety and depression and GDM.
Does gestational diabetes come from mother or father?
Does family history cause gestational diabetes? – Your family’s health history won’t directly cause gestational diabetes, but it could put you at increased risk. Research suggests that people who have close family relatives with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop GDM.
- If you have a parent with type 2 diabetes, you are 2.3 times more likely to develop gestational diabetes.³ If your sibling has type 2 diabetes, you are 8.4 times more likely to develop the condition during pregnancy.
- You are also eight times more likely to develop gestational diabetes if your mother had it during her own pregnancy.
So research does indicate that gestational diabetes runs in families. Along with genetic predisposition, your family may also influence lifestyle choices that impact your risk. If you grew up in a family in which eating a high-sugar, high-fat diet was the norm, you might continue to eat this type of diet as an adult.
- This increases your risk of obesity, which leads to an elevated risk of developing both type 2 and gestational diabetes.
- Likewise, you may have inherited a love for exercise from your family.
- That could lower your risk for gestational diabetes by helping your body naturally balance your blood sugar levels.
Letting your doctor know about your family’s health history with diabetes will help them more accurately predict your own risk of developing the condition. If you have a family history of diabetes, your doctor may decide to monitor your blood sugar levels more closely throughout your pregnancy.
Can stress raise your blood sugar during pregnancy?
Stress can increase your blood glucose levels. Stress can also cause you to turn to unhealthful behaviors such as overeating, eating unhealthful foods or smoking. Managing your stress and relaxing more will help you and your baby stay as healthy as possible.