Diet Samples
Gestational Diabetes Risks
Your Chances:
Any woman can develop gestational diabetes when pregnant, but some are at greater risk:
- Women older than age 25 – Women who are older than 25 years of age are more likely to develop gestational diabetes
- Personal or family history of diabetes – You are at an increased chance of developing gestational diabetes if you or a close family member, such as a parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes. You also have a higher risk of getting gestational diabetes with your 2nd pregnancy if you developed gestational diabetes in a prior pregnancy or if you delivered a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds.
- Obesity – If you are significantly overweight with a body mass index greater than 30, you are more likely to develop gestational diabetes.
- Race – For unclear reasons, women who are Black, Asian, Hispanic or American Indian are more likely to develop gestational diabetes.
- Having sugar in your urine
- Having too much amniotic fluid (a condition called polyhydramnios).
Your Baby:
Increased complications can happen to your baby when you have gestational diabetes, such as:
- Low blood sugar – Some babies with mothers with gestational diabetes can develop low blood sugar (hypoglemia) shortly after birth due to their own insulin production being high. Severe episodes of the problem may cause seizures in the baby. Prompt feeding and intravenous glucose solution can return your baby’s blood sugar level to normal.
- Respiratory distress syndrome – If your baby is delivered early, a condition called respiratory distress syndrome can happen which causes difficult breathing. Babies born to women who have gestational diabetes, typically have more breathing problems than babies born at the same gestational age.
- Jaundice – Yellow discoloration of the skin and the whites of the eyes may occur if the baby’s liver isn’t mature enough to break down bilrubin, which is formed to recycle old or damaged red blood cells. Jaundice in itself isn’t a big concern, but must be watched with careful monitoring.
- Type 2 diabetes later in life – Women that have developed gestational diabetes have an increased chance of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life.
- Excess growth – The extra glucose that crosses the placenta will trigger your baby’s pancreas to make more insulin and cause your baby to grow large (macrosomia). A large baby can bring complications to the delivery room as the baby can get wedged in the birth canal. A Cesarean birth will be more likely for women with gestational diabetes.
- Developmental problems – If you have gestational diabetes, your child may have an increased risk of motor skill development, such as jumping, walking or other activities that require balance and coordination. There is also an increased risk of attention problems or hyperactivitiy disorders.
Your Health:
Gestational diabetes can increase your personal risk of the following:
- Preeclampsia - Gestational diabetes increases the risk of preeclampsia,, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine after the 20th week of pregnancy. If left untreated, the preeclampsia can lead to serious or even life-threatening complications for both mom and baby.
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) – Women with gestational diabetes experience twice the number of urinary tract infections during pregnancy than other pregnant women, possibly due to the excess glucose in the urine.
- Future diabetes – If you have gestational diabetes, you have an increased risk of developing the condition in future pregnancies and type 2 diabetes when you get older. However, making lifestyle changes like eating healthy food and exercising can help reduce the risk of future type 2 diabetes. Women who have a history of gestational diabetes and have reached their ideal body weight after delivery, fewer than 25 percent will develop type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes can affect the developing baby throughout the pregnancy and can result in birth defects or an increased rate of miscarriage. Many of the birth defects that may occur affect major organs such as the brain and heart.