Gestational diabetes happens during pregnancy when your body can’t make or use the insulin it needs. This causes high blood sugar levels, which can affect your pregnancy and the health of both you and your developing baby.
If you develop gestational diabetes, it doesn’t mean you had diabetes before your pregnancy or will have it afterward. However, gestational diabetes does raise your risk of future type 2 diabetes.
If not managed effectively, gestational diabetes can increase the possibility of complications for you and your baby during pregnancy and delivery.
- fatigue
- blurred vision
- excessive thirst
- excessive need to urinate
- yeast infections
Gestational diabetes occurs when your body cannot produce or use the insulin it needs during pregnancy. During pregnancy, your body produces larger amounts of some hormones, including:
- human placental lactogen (hPL)
- other hormones that increase insulin resistance
These hormones affect your placenta and help sustain your pregnancy. Over time, the amount of these hormones in your body increases. They may start to make your body resistant to insulin, the hormone that regulates your blood sugar.
Insulin helps move glucose out of your blood and into your cells to use for energy. Your body naturally becomes slightly resistant to insulin during pregnancy. That means your body makes more glucose to pass along to the baby.
Too much insulin resistance can make your blood sugar levels rise too high, leading to gestational diabetes.
Are there different forms of gestational diabetes?
There are
- Class A1: You can manage the condition through dietary changes alone.
- Class A2: You need insulin or oral medications to help manage the condition.
You may have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes if you:
- have had gestational diabetes in the past
- have a family history of diabetes
- had a higher body weight before you became pregnant
- have high cholesterol or a history of cardiovascular disease
- are not regularly physically active
- have previously given birth to a baby weighing about
9 pounds or more - have conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, acanthosis nigricans, or another condition associated with insulin resistance
If your doctor wants to screen for gestational diabetes, they may have you do a glucose challenge test. This is a non-fasting test where you drink a solution containing glucose. After an hour, you’ll give another blood sample to check your blood sugar level.
If your blood sugar level is higher than it should be, your doctor may then recommend a glucose tolerance test.
For this test, they will have you fast for several hours and then take a blood sample to measure your fasting blood sugar levels. Then, they will have you drink a solution containing glucose and take more blood samples after 1, 2, and possibly 3 hours.
You may receive a gestational diabetes diagnosis if you have two or more of the following glucose values:
- Fasting: greater than or equal to 95 mg/dL
- After 1 hour: greater than or equal to 180 mg/dL
- After 2 hours: greater than or equal to 155 mg/dL
- After 3 hours: greater than or equal to 140 mg/dL
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) encourages healthcare professionals to routinely screen people during pregnancy for gestational diabetes.
If you have no known history of diabetes and optimal blood sugar levels at the beginning of your pregnancy, a doctor will likely screen you for gestational diabetes when you’re
People who experience gestational diabetes have a
The ADA encourages doctors to screen for type 2 diabetes at the beginning of pregnancy. If you have risk factors for type 2 diabetes,your doctor may test you for the condition at your first prenatal visit.
If you receive a diagnosis of gestational diabetes, your treatment plan can vary depending on your blood sugar levels throughout the day. Your doctor will help you make a plan to check your blood sugar levels regularly.
In most cases, a doctor will advise you to test your blood sugar before and after meals. They’ll also advise managing your condition by eating a nutrient-rich diet and getting regular physical activity.
The recommendation is to get
Doctors often prescribe insulin for gestational diabetes, which you may take by injection up until the time you give birth. They can help you best understand how to time your insulin doses for meals and exercise, in order to help avoid low or high blood sugars.
Other medications, like metformin, may also be beneficial.
Your healthcare team can also help you understand what to do if your blood sugar levels go too low or are consistently higher than your target range.
A balanced diet can help manage gestational diabetes. In particular, people with gestational diabetes can pay special attention to their macronutrients — carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
The following table lays out some nutrient-dense foods you can include in your diet.
| Nutrient | Foods to include |
|---|---|
| complex carbs | whole grains brown rice beans, peas, lentils, and other legumes starchy vegetables low sugar fruits |
| protein | lean meats poultry tofu fish that don’t have high mercury content (avoid fish like bigeye tuna and swordfish) |
| fats | unsalted nuts seeds olive oil avocado |
Your dietary needs may change throughout your pregnancy. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian about how much of each macronutrient you should be getting during and after pregnancy.
If you are not able to manage gestational diabetes or it goes untreated, blood sugar levels may remain higher than they should be throughout your pregnancy. This can lead to complications that affect the health of you and your baby before, during, and after birth.
Complications that can affect you may include:
- high blood pressure
- preeclampsia
- perinatal depression
- preterm birth
- needing to have a cesarean delivery
- pregnancy loss
Complications that can affect your baby can include:
- high birth weight
- birth injuries
- breathing issues, including respiratory distress syndrome
- low blood sugar
- higher risk of developing diabetes later in life
- jaundice
To help avoid these complications, it is important to attend all of your prenatal care checkups and follow a doctor’s recommended treatment plan.
Blood sugar levels often stabilize after birth. However, having gestational diabetes increases the risk of developing it in future pregnancies.
Gestational diabetes also raises your risk of type 2 diabetes later in life. Your doctor may continue to screen you for type 2 diabetes after birth.
It’s not always possible to prevent gestational diabetes, but making the recommended lifestyle changes can help reduce your risk of developing it.
If you’re pregnant and have one or more risk factors for gestational diabetes, aim to eat a balanced diet and get regular physical activity. Your doctor can help you make eating and exercise plans that are right for you.
If you’re planning to become pregnant and have overweight or obesity, consider talking with a doctor about ways to safely lose weight while preparing for a pregnancy.
It’s also essential to seek prenatal care and attend all doctor-recommended visits to get the necessary screenings and evaluations during your pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes can develop during pregnancy if your body can’t make or use the insulin it needs, resulting in chronically high blood sugar.
A doctor may recommend changing what you eat and monitoring your blood sugar levels. They may also prescribe oral diabetes medications or insulin.
If you have gestational diabetes, your blood sugar levels will likely return to their usual levels after you’ve given birth. But you may have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes after pregnancy or later in life, so talk with your doctor about what you can do to lower your risk.