Gestational Diabetes

Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before may develop high blood sugar (glucose) levels during 28 weeks of pregnancy until birth. This is known as gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women in United States each year.

Studies shows that gestational diabetes occurs most frequent among African Americans, Hispanic/Latino American, and American Indians women. It is also more common among obese women and women with a family history of diabetes.

It is not sure what really causes gestational diabetes, but there are some clues. It is known that the placenta supports the baby to grow and hormones from the placenta helps that baby to develop. But it is believed that these hormones also block the actions of the mother’s insulin in her body. This is known as insulin resistance. This insulin resistance may make it hard for the mother’s body to use the insulin and therefore, may need up to 3 times as much.

Gestational diabetes can cause the newborn to be larger then usually. Also, due to the extra insulin made by the newborn’s pancreas, the newborns may have very low blood glucose levels at birth and could have higher risk of breathing problems.