Gestational Diabetes - A Common Syndrome During Pregnancy

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• Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before
  but who have high blood glucose (sugar) levels
  during pregnancy are said to have gestational
  diabetes. According to a 2014 analysis by the
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
  prevalence of gestational diabetes is as high as
  9.2.
• Women who are obese or who have had gestational
  diabetes during their previous pregnancy, or
  women who have a strong family history of
  diabetes are at a high risk of developing
  gestational diabetes.

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• Untreated or poorly controlled gestational
  diabetes can be harmful to the foetus. When one
  has gestational diabetes, the pancreas works
  overtime to produce insulin. But the insulin does
  not lower the blood glucose levels. Although
  insulin does not cross the placenta, glucose and
  other nutrients do. So extra blood glucose goes
  through the placenta (organ attached to the
  lining of the womb during pregnancy), giving the
  baby high blood glucose levels. This causes the
  babys pancreas to make extra insulin to get rid
  of the blood glucose. Since the baby gets more
  energy than it needs in order to grow and
  develop, the extra energy is stored as fat, and
  thus the baby puts on weight, which can increase
  the risk of early labor.

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• Babies with macrosomia (heavy weight) face health
  problems of their own, including damage to their
  shoulders during birth. Because of the extra
  insulin made by the baby's pancreas, it may cause
  low blood glucose levels at birth and could also
  put the newborn at a higher risk for breathing
  problems. Babies with excess insulin become
  children who are at risk for obesity and after
  they grow up they are at risk for type 2
  diabetes.
• Gestational diabetes raises the risk of high
  blood pressure in mothers and also puts them at a
  high risk of developing diabetes during future
  pregnancy, and making them more likely to develop
  type 2 diabetes when they get older. However,
  this can be avoided by adopting a healthy
  lifestyle, which includes consuming a healthy
  diet and doing regular exercises.

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Thank you..