Dr. Michael Cacciatore, the assistant director in Loch OBGYN and a faculty member in the obstetrics department of Florida Hospital, has an important advise to all women with diabetes- schedule for an appointment with an obstetrician if you have plan to have a baby to help you lower your risk of experiencing neurotube, heart or neurological problems.
Likewise, Dr. Cacciatore also encourage primary care physicians treating diabetic women of child -bearing age to talk to obstetrician if they are planning to get pregnant.
Based on the numbers gathered by the American Diabetes Association, approximately 21 million Americans have diabetes which is a couple of millions bigger than in 2003 where it was last measured. If the trend continues, doctors fear that one in 3 Americans will have diabetes, either of its forms.
Likewise, gestational diabetes is said to affect around 5 percent of pregnant women in the country. This means that more than 300,000 pregnancies each year face complications brought about by this form of diabetes.
For moms inflicted with gestational diabetes, the chance of getting a full blown type 2 diabetes later in their life increases by 50 percent. This is why risk assessment for gestational diabetes also known as GDM is recommended to be done during the first prenatal visit. Risk factors include weight, history of gestational diabetes, glycosuria and history of type 1 or 2 diabetes. Pregnant women who are determined to be at risk go under glucose testing as soon as possible. If initial screening turns out to be negative, women should be again tested between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to confirm or dispute the initial findings.
To set things clearly, gestational diabetes is not the term for women with diabetes who get pregnant while under insulin treatment. Gestational diabetes is the form of diabetes that can be diagnosed only during pregnancy. There is no consensus yet on what is the ultimate cause of gestational diabetes but obesity and insulin-resistance are high on the list. During pregnancy, a woman’s body produces hormones from the placenta that are necessary for the baby’s development. In the case of those with GDM, these same hormones block the effectivity of insulin in the body. When a woman is unable to use the insulin it needs, she becomes hyperglycemic and experiences GDM.
This can affect the baby greatly. As Cacciatore explains, glucose can permeate through the placenta while insulin cannot. And the result is that the baby’s fragile and small pancreas would have to work double time to convert the glucose into the energy needed by the body. Another complication which can be brought by having gestational diabetes is increased size. This is because of the excess glucose that the baby receives which will then be stored as fat. In some extreme cases, stillbirth can also occur.
Dr. Cacciatore advises moms who are at risk of developing gestational diabetes and who are planning on getting pregnant to be conscious of their weight for the simple reason that heavier people are more likely to have GDM than those who don’t. He recommends a regular schedule of low intensity exercises such as walking around the neighbourhood for 20 minutes to prevent gestational diabetes. For those women with diabetes even before pregnancy, he recommends that glucose level, retinopathy and other vascular issues be managed months before conceiving. He points out that this simple step can decrease the likelihood of experiencing congenital abnormalities.
Do you have gestational diabetes? or know a loved one who do? Check out our highly specialized gestational diabetes app that can help monitor your food intake and blood sugar level.