How does gestational diabetes affect pregnancy and will it hurt my baby?
The complications of gestational diabetes are manageable and preventable. The key to prevention is careful control of blood sugar levels just as soon as the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is made. You should be reassured that there are certain things gestational diabetes does not usually cause. Unlike Type I diabetes, gestational diabetes generally does not cause birth defects. For the most part, birth defects originate sometime during the first trimester (before the 13th week) of pregnancy. The insulin resistance from the contrainsulin hormones produced by the placenta does not usually occur until approximately the 24th week. Therefore, women with gestational diabetes generally have normal blood sugar levels during the critical first trimester. The Role of High Maternal Glucose in Fetal Macrosomia One of the major problems a woman with gestational diabetes faces is a condition the baby may develop called “macrosomia.” Macrosomia means “large body” and refers to a baby that is consi
