Gestational Diabetes Symptoms
Gestational diabetes symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, and weight gain. If gestational diabetes is not properly treated multiple pregnancy related complications can occur.
Women with gestational diabetes usually do not have glucose levels that are high enough to pose risks to their own health. In most cases, gestational diabetes causes no symptoms in the mother and poses no immediate threat to her health. Even so, it is an early warning sign that she has a greater risk of developing diabetes later in her life.
The Official Patient’s Sourcebook on Gestational Diabetes
What is Gestational Diabetes?
Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women – about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year.
We don’t know what causes gestational diabetes, but we have some clues. The placenta supports the baby as it grows. Hormones from the placenta help the baby develop. But these hormones also block the action of the mother’s insulin in her body. This problem is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes it hard for the mother’s body to use insulin. She may need up to three times as much insulin.
Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia.W