Contents:
- Medical Video: Complications Of What is Gestational Diabetes And Prevention - Manipal Hospitals
- Will my gestational diabetes affect the health of the baby in the future?
- Will gestational diabetes affect my labor?
Medical Video: Complications Of What is Gestational Diabetes And Prevention - Manipal Hospitals
Most women who suffer from gestational diabetes give birth to healthy babies, especially when they keep blood sugar under control, eat healthy food, do moderate physical activity, and maintain a healthy weight. However, in some cases, gestational diabetes can affect pregnancy.
Here are some conditions that may occur due to gestational diabetes that affects pregnant women. Keep in mind that just because you have gestational diabetes does not mean this problem will occur.
- Makrosomia - Baby's body is bigger than usual. Large-bodied babies are sometimes injured at normal birth through the vagina, so the baby may need to be born by Caesarean section. The most common complication for babies like this is shoulder dystocia.
- Hypoglycemia—The baby's blood sugar is too low. You may need to start breastfeeding immediately so that the baby gets more glucose into his system. If it is not possible for you to start breastfeeding, the baby may need to get glucose through a thin plastic tube in his arm so that glucose is directly put into the blood.
- Yellow skin- baby's skin turns yellow; the white part of the eye may also change color slightly. When treated, jaundice is not a serious problem for babies.
- Distress respiratory syndrome—The baby has difficulty breathing. The baby may need oxygen or other respiratory assistance if he has distress respiratory syndrome.
- Calcium and magnesium levels are low in the baby's blood—Can cause spasms in the hands and feet, or forestation or muscle cramps in the baby. This condition can be treated with calcium and magnesium supplements.
Will my gestational diabetes affect the health of the baby in the future?
Gestational diabetes usually does not cause birth defects. Most disability or physical development occurs during the first trimester of pregnancy, between 1 and 8 weeks.
Gestational diabetes usually develops around or after the 24th week of pregnancy. Women with gestational diabetes usually have normal blood sugar levels during the first trimester, which allows the body and body system of the fetus to develop normally.
The fact that you have gestational diabetes will not cause diabetes in your baby. But, your child has a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. When your child grows up, things like eating healthy food, maintaining body weight, and doing moderate physical activity regularly can help reduce that risk.
If your baby is macrosomia, or has a large body at birth, then he is at a higher risk for obesity in childhood and adulthood (extreme overweight). Large-bodied babies are also at high risk for type 2 diabetes and are often affected at an earlier age (younger than 30).
Will gestational diabetes affect my labor?
Most women with gestational diabetes can give birth at the expected time and undergo labor normally. In some cases, gestational diabetes can determine how the baby is born. Talk to your doctor about concerns about the birth process.
If you have gestational diabetes, there are a number of things you need to remember during birth:
- Balance of blood sugar and insulin- Keeping blood sugar levels under control during labor is very important for your own health and your baby's health. If you don't use insulin during pregnancy, you may not need it during labor. If you use insulin during pregnancy, you may receive an insulin injection when labor begins, or you may get insulin through a thin plastic tube in your arm that enters your bloodstream during labor.
- Early labor- Gestational diabetes puts women at a higher risk than women without this condition for later preeclampsia in their pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a condition that is associated with a sudden increase in blood pressure; and this condition can be serious.
- Caesarean section is the type of surgery used for childbirth, instead of normal vaginal delivery. Having gestational diabetes is not the reason why you have a cesarean delivery, but doctors have other reasons for choosing a cesarean delivery, such as changes in your health or your baby.
