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Causes of Gestational Diabetes
Researchers do not know why some women develop gestational diabetes. During pregnancy, insulin is processed differently. The placenta (the organ that connects the baby by the umbilical cord to the uterus) that surrounds your growing baby produces high levels of many different hormones. Many of these hormones interfere with the action of insulin in your tissues, thus raising blood sugar. Modest elevation is seen shortly after eating a meal, but prolonged high blood sugar is harmful for both you and your baby.
As your baby grows, the placenta will produce more of these hormones and lead to progressive impaired glucose intolerance (higher blood sugar levels). To decrease the blood sugar levels, the body will try to make more insulin to get glucose into the cells to be used as energy in the body. Usually the mother’s pancreas is able to produce enough insulin to overcome the effect during pregnancy but if it cannot produce enough insulin to overcome the hormones from the placenta from provoking a rise in blood sugar, it can develop into gestational diabetes and the growth of your baby. Gestational diabetes usually develops during the last half of the pregnancy.
See: Increased Risk Factors Cause Gestational Diabetes
