When we talk about diabetes, we typically refer to “three main types,” and they are type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). More recently a lot of attention has been paid to type 1.5 diabetes, which I’ll blog about another day. Today I’m thinking about GDM.
GDM is a type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. Somewhere between 2 and 10% of pregnant women have GDM. Unless there is a reason to check a woman earlier, all pregnant women who don’t already have diabetes are checked for GDM between the 24th and 28th weeks. Women at higher risk for GDM include those with a family history of diabetes, or a history of GDM in a previous pregnancy; those who are overweight; those with symptoms of high blood glucose, or a history of high blood glucose; and those from certain ethnic backgrounds.
The test for GDM is called a “glucose tolerance test.” The gist of it is that the pregnant woman has a fasting blood glucose drawn, drinks a glucose drink and then has a series of blood glucose checks at different time points. The results of these determine whether or not she has GDM.
**If you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, and you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the good news is that you do not have to be checked for GDM. Woo-hoo!**
If the glucose tolerance test shows that the woman has high blood glucose, she is diagnosed with GDM and given instructions for managing her blood glucose throughout the remainder of the pregnancy. It is very important for a woman with GDM to do the following things:
- do not panic or stress or beat yourself up – this is not your fault
- meet with a diabetes educator, if at all possible, or another health care provider who can teach you how to manage your blood glucose
- check your blood glucose level at least six times per day
- check urine ketones if your health care provider recommends you do so
- keep your blood glucose level as close to normal as possible for the remainder of your pregnancy
- if your blood glucose creeps up, take medication as directed by your health care provider
- exercise safely and regularly
- manage your stress
- make healthy eating/drinking choices
- make every effort to maintain healthy habits after the baby is born to prevent getting diabetes later in life