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How Will Gestational Diabetes Affect My Pregnancy?
Most women who develop gestational diabetes go on to have healthy babies. You will be asked to keep your blood sugar in control with a special low carbohydrate diet and daily exercise. Only some women will be required to take insulin shots.
Poorly controlled diabetes can have serious consequences for you and the baby as too much glucose will end up in the baby’s blood. When this happens, the baby’s pancreas will need to produce more insulin to process the additional glucose and can end up making your baby fat, particularly in the upper body. The baby’s weight gain can lead to macrosomia.
A marcosomic baby may be too large to be delivered vaginally as the baby’s head or the shoulders may get stuck. If this happens, the doctor will have to use special techniques to deliver the baby. It can result in a fractured bone or nerve damage, both that can heal without permanent problems in about 99 percent of babies. (In very rare cases, the baby may suffer brain damage from the lack of oxygen during the delivery process). Unfortunately, the maneuvers to deliver a broad-shouldered baby can lead to possible injuries in the vaginal area or require a cut (episotomy).
If your doctor suspects that baby will be too large, he/she may recommend delivering by C-Section, which only a small amount of women with well controlled gestational diabetes will end up having to do.
After delivery, the baby may end up having low blood sugar due to his body continuing to produce extra insulin. The nurses will test the baby’s blood sugar at birth by taking a drop at the heel. If they find the blood sugar is low, they will want you to feed him as soon as possible either by breastfeeding or by giving some sugar water or formula.
Some babies may be a higher risk of jaundice, hypocalcemia (low calcium in the blood), or polycythemia (increase of red blood cells in blood). If your blood sugar was controlled poorly, your baby’s heart function may have been affected. There are some studies that have found a link between severe gestational diabetes and an increased risk for stillbirth during the last 2 months of pregnancy. In addition, having gestational diabetes puts the mother at higher risk (twice as high) to develop preeclampsia as other pregnant women.
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Tags: baby delivery, labor complications, large baby, macrosomia
