Contents:
- Medical Video: Gestational Diabetes: Managing Risk During and After Pregnancy Video - Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- What causes gestational diabetes?
- Can gestational diabetes recover after giving birth?
- Gestational diabetes can recur if ...
- How to prevent gestational diabetes again?
Medical Video: Gestational Diabetes: Managing Risk During and After Pregnancy Video - Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Gestational diabetes is the condition of the emergence of diabetes during pregnancy, even though before pregnancy you have no history of diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a complication of pregnancy which is fairly common. The question is, can postnatal gestational diabetes recover? See the full answer in this article.
What causes gestational diabetes?
Gestational diabetes occurs because of changes in the body's metabolism which are affected by hormonal changes during pregnancy. Pregnancy hormones make blood sugar levels decrease in early pregnancy, but will increase as the increase in estrogen and cortisol production during pregnancy continues.
Increased estrogen hormone peaked in the 26th week to 33th of gestational age. Meanwhile, cortisol as a hormone that triggers diabetes will peak at the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. This change in metabolism then causes insulin resistance. An increase in the prolactin hormone during the final trimester of pregnancy to prepare for the production of breast milk is reported to have contributed to the risk of gestational diabetes.
At the same time, the placenta also produces several hormones that cause insulin resistance -human placental lactogen and placental growth hormone).
In addition, body fat levels also increase during pregnancy. Body fat tissue produces the hormone adinopectin which works to reduce blood sugar levels. During pregnancy, adiponectin levels in the body actually decrease, causing an increase in insulin resistance and ultimately lead to diabetes during pregnancy.
Can gestational diabetes recover after giving birth?
The development of pregnancy and placental formation increases hormone production as well as insulin resistance.
When the baby is born, the placenta comes out of the mother's body so that the production of pregnancy hormones and insulin resistance stops. That is why, most pregnant women who have gestational diabetes can heal on their own after giving birth.
Even so, you still need to be aware of gestational diabetes even after giving birth. In the early weeks or months after giving birth, you still need to check your condition to the doctor. You also need to continue to control your blood sugar levels after giving birth if you have diabetes during pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes can recur if ...
If you cannot control blood sugar levels properly, gestational diabetes that once experienced can have developed into another disease, such as type 2 diabetes. If you have had gestational diabetes that has not been handled thoroughly, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes will increase.
In addition, women with gestational diabetes who fail to control their weight after giving birth have a greater risk of developing "relapsing" gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies, according to a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2010. In fact, the chance of recurrence of gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies could reaching 40 percent.
Summarized from various studies, it is known that Asian ethnic women have a higher risk of developing diabetes after pregnancy because they are more susceptible to impaired glucose tolerance.
How to prevent gestational diabetes again?
Gestational diabetes can be completely cured if you live a healthy lifestyle after giving birth. Just like other types of diabetes, recurrence of gestational diabetes can be prevented by living a healthier lifestyle. Including controlling body weight before, during, and after pregnancy by eating healthy food and regular physical activity.
In addition, exclusive breastfeeding after giving birth has also been proven to reduce the risk of diabetes after childbirth because it helps to lose weight naturally.
