Gestational Diabetes: How to Recognize The Disease

What you can do if you suspect diabetes during pregnancy? And how gestational diabetes is best treated…

Who gets gestational diabetes?

Every pregnant woman, but especially those with these risk factors:

• Overweight
• Improper nutrition
• Diabetes mellitus in the family
• One or more miscarriages
• Already a child who weighed 4,500 grams at birth
• The birth weight of the expectant mother was over 4,500 grams
• Pregnant women over 35 years of age
• Increased amniotic fluid
• Taking cortisone preparations during pregnancy

How can I recognize that I am affected?

If you are unusually tired and then in addition you experience severe thirst, frequent urination, dizziness and sudden weight loss, this could be a sign of gestational diabetes.

Diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy

Only a doctor can really clarify pregnancy diabetes with the help of a sugar stress test. Fortunately, this is now one of the standard tests during pregnancy and is covered by health insurance. The glucose tolerance test is usually carried out between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy.

If you or your doctor suspect gestational diabetes, the test can be scheduled earlier. This would then detect unusually high blood sugar levels.

What does that mean exactly?

Responsible for the elevated blood sugar level are the hormonal changes during pregnancy that interfere with insulin production. Insulin is produced in the pancreas and regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. Between 2 and 14 percent of expectant mothers are affected.

If I have gestational diabetes…

If too high sugar levels are found in the blood, i.e. if the exposure is too high, this can have consequences for mother and child. Various complications can then arise during pregnancy and during birth. Your doctor will therefore refer you to a diabetic specialist practice or an expert.

Treatment of gestational diabetes

For most of those affected, an adapted diet helps to normalise blood sugar levels. If this is not sufficient, insulin therapy is necessary. It is often sufficient to inject small amounts of insulin under the skin before meals to normalise blood sugar levels. However, depending on the case, it may also be necessary to inject in the morning and evening for normal blood sugar levels. Pregnant women are well trained to always receive the correct dose of insulin. If the dose is too high, this can also have consequences for mother and child, which are then triggered by hypoglycaemia. Pregnant women should not take oral antidiabetics.

After the pregnancy

With the normalization of the hormone balance, gestational diabetes usually disappears on its own. However, women who are affected once have a 50 percent risk of developing the disease again the next time they become pregnant. And it is also 50 percent of former gestational diabetes patients who develop diabetes mellitus within 10 years, regardless of pregnancy.