Pregnancy diabetes symptoms are key for early diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy. Diabetes in pregnancy is also called gestational diabetes. One should take pregnancy diabetes symptoms seriously so that baby and mother are protected from diabetes complications.
Pregnancy Diabetes Symptoms You cannot ignore!
Pregnant women with gestational diabetes show pregnancy diabetes symptoms at around 12 weeks of pregnancy.
But if you see any ‘pregnancy diabetes symptoms’ at any point during pregnancy, you must discuss the same with your doctor and midwife.
They will check you for signs of diabetes and help you to ensure safety of you and baby.
If you have pregnancy diabetes symptoms, does it mean you are diabetic?
If you are pregnant and have a high blood sugar level or show any other signs of being diabetic, you are likely to have gestational diabetes.
You must look for signs of being diabetic throughout your pregnancy. It is important to treat gestational diabetes with the help of a doctor. Otherwise it could cause health problems to you and your baby.
Usually gestational diabetes begins after around 3 months of pregnancy. You may notice some pregnancy diabetes symptoms like
- feeling unusually thirsty
- passing more urine than usual
- feeling tired and weak for no reason
One thing to bear in mind is that some of these symptoms are common during pregnancy even if you do not have gestational diabetes.
But when you notice these, you must tell your doctor so that they can diagnose your condition. Doctors and midwives are trained to check for signs of diabetes when pregnant.
What causes gestational diabetes in women?
Woman’s body produces large number of hormones during pregnancy. As a result of this, a woman’s body becomes insulin resistant during pregnancy.
This means that though your body produces insulin, your body cannot respond well to insulin. As a result your blood sugar levels rise.
The purpose of this hormonal effect is to make sure the baby in your womb also gets some glucose and nutrients from you.
At the same time, to cope with the extra sugar in your blood, your body must produce more insulin and respond to insulin.
When you either cannot produce enough insulin or you become more insulin resistant, you get gestational diabetes and show signs of being diabetic.
So the hormonal changes in a woman’s body during pregnancy cause gestational diabetes.
Do doctors or mid-wives screen you for diabetes symptoms when you are pregnant?
Normally your doctor or midwife will check as a routine if you are diabetic. As part of the pregnancy medical process, your midwife or doctor can ask you a number of questions related to pregnancy diabetes symptoms.
If your answers indicate that you are diabetic, they will recommend more tests and diagnosis for you.
Doctors check for high blood sugar as well as low blood sugar during pregnancy. Baby and mother may become weak if mother shows low blood sugar during pregnancy. You may find this blood glucose meter helpful in checking your blood sugar levels at home.
What are gestational diabetes effects on baby?
Gestational diabetes can have serious impact on the baby if you ignore diabetic signs.
When mother has high glucose levels, baby may have high insulin levels too, which in turn may lead to low blood glucose levels in the baby after birth. This may mean baby needs specialist care in hospital after birth.
When the mother produces high insulin, baby may grow larger in size than normal making delivery more difficult.
More serious gestational diabetes effects on baby include birth trauma for both mother and baby, perinatal death and increased risk of still birth.
How do doctors test you for pregnancy diabetes symptoms?
When you see a doctor or a midwife with signs of diabetes during pregnancy, they would test to see if you have gestational diabetes.
They may offer you a sugary drink and then check your blood sugar levels to understand how well your body is processing sugar.
They may do this at any time during pregnancy if they suspect you may be diabetic.
It is important that you provide them with all the information they ask for and be available for all tests without fail.
If you take pregnancy diabetes symptoms seriously and take proper care, you can ensure safety of yourself and your baby.
How do doctors treat you for pregnancy diabetes symptoms?
If you show any pregnancy diabetes symptoms, you need to eat special diet. You also need to see your doctor for an investigation.
If your doctor diagnoses your condition as gestational diabetes, he would usually refer you to a specialist clinic. The specialist clinic for gestational diabetes deals with both pregnancy and diabetes.
Midwives also play a great role in treating your gestational diabetes.
Normally if you have pregnancy diabetes symptoms, you may be seeing your midwife more often than normal. Your mid wife will make sure your blood sugar levels are maintained at safe levels all the time to prevent any problems.
You may have to check your blood sugar levels yourself at home to make sure they are in control. This can help in keeping a close watch on pregnancy diabetes symptoms.
You must eat a balanced diet and lead a healthy life style. Most importantly, you must monitor your pregnancy diabetes symptoms very closely.
What can a woman with pregnancy diabetes symptoms eat?
During pregnancy, every woman needs to eat nutritious food. The food a pregnant woman eats needs to be planned in such a way to take care of the woman and the baby as well. The best people to advise what a woman with pregnancy diabetes symptoms can eat are doctor and mid-wife. A nutritionist can can also help in planning meals for a woman with pregnancy diabetes symptoms. �y�
