Gestational Diabetes - Answers to Questions Mothers Often Ask

Q - What is Gestational Diabetes?

A - When a woman develops diabetes mellitus for the first time during a pregnancy, it's called gestational diabetes or GDM.

Q - How common is it?

A - The percentage of people diagnosed with GDM vary from population to population. It could be as low as 1% and as high as 12%.

Q - Who does it affect?

A - It can affect any pregnant woman but some women are more likely to have it than others. They include

1. Women who were diagnosed with GDM in previous pregnancies.
2. Women NOT previously diagnosed with GDM but who have symptoms and signs that suggest it. E.g. A large baby - greater than 4kg(8.82lbs) - or, a stillbirth in earlier pregnancies.
3. Native Americans, southeast Asians, Hispanics and people of African decent.
4. Older women. The older a woman is when pregnant, the higher her chances of developing GDM

Q - What are the symptoms of Gestational Diabetes?

A - The symptoms include

1. Un-usually large abdomen because of a large baby or excess amniotic fluid
2. Infections
3. The other symptoms of diabetes - drinking lots of water, passing large volumes of urine and eating a lot.

Most women who have access to good ante-natal care will have been diagnosed before symptoms become prominent.

Q - How is the diagnosis confirmed?

A - It is confirmed by doing an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) in which you drink 100mg of glucose after an overnight fast of 6-8hours. Then serial blood glucose estimations are done to confirm or exclude GDM.

Q - How is it treated?

A - Mild forms are treated by dietary changes while more severe forms may require insulin. Some obstetricians give diabetic pills like gliburide but this practice isn't common.

Q - What are the complications of GDM?

A - The complications are suffered by both mother and baby. They include large size of baby and difficult labour, stillbirth, and hypoglycaemia.

Q - Will I get diabetes afterwards?

A - Statistics show that half of the women who develop GDM in pregnancy will have it again in future pregnancies. Also one third of the women who develop GDM in any pregnancy go on to develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.

Q - What Should I do after pregnancy?

A - Consult your doctor for regular follow-up visits, diabetes screening and counseling.

Created - May, 2006