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Gestational Diabetes: Risks and Management

You never understand life until it grows inside of you.

I relate to this quote a lot. When I was pregnant, my way of seeing life changed entirely and that changed me as a person. My pregnancy was the most beautiful phase of my life but it wasn’t easy. From morning sickness, difficulty in breathing, swollen feet to gestational diabetes, I had it all and that made the entire journey really tough.

I knew that gestational diabetes can impact the life within me adversely. From diet restrictions to monitoring sugar levels regularly and extra medications, I did everything to keep the baby safe and healthy.

Recently I had the chance to attend an event on Living Fully With Diabetes and how continuous glucose monitoring can help monitor glucose levels effectively. This is something every pregnant woman will find helpful.

I’ll first talk about what is gestational diabetes, symptoms and risks and then move on to the role Continuous Glucose Monitoring plays in managing diabetes better.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a form of high blood sugar affecting pregnant women who don’t have a history of diabetes. It occurs when the female body cannot make enough insulin during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar that can affect your pregnancy and your baby’s health.

Symptoms of Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes doesn’t cause any noticeable symptoms but a few symptoms that you should keep a check and never miss to discuss with your doctor are:
• Increased thirst
• Parched mouth, despite drinking a lot.
• More frequent urination
• Fatigue
As gestational diabetes can affect you and your baby, you should not ignore any change in your body.

Risks of Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes can have adverse effects on you and your baby. It has risks like:
• Women can develop diabetes in later life.
• Can lead to high blood pressure and preeclampsia.
• Baby can be born with excessive birth weight.
• Baby can have an early birth and face difficulties in breathing.

Managing Gestational Diabetes

important role in helping manage gestational diabetes.Gestational diabetes can be managed easily with the right meal plan and exercise routine. With blood sugar regulation, you can prevent complications in pregnancy and ensure that mother and baby are healthy and diabetes-free, after delivery. And the caregiver plays an important role in helping manage gestational diabetes.

  • Always intake well-balanced meals, which include lean protein, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, which are good to manage blood sugar.
  • You should check glucose levels on a regular basis. You may need to test, before meals and snacks and before and after exercise.
  • Exercise regularly, exercise is one of the key ways to manage diabetes as it helps regulate your blood sugar levels.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring

In the event I attended, it was mentioned that the best way to manage diabetes is to monitor diabetes regularly. And the event introduced me to CGM – Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices. CGM devices make monitoring sugar levels every few minutes possible and the best part is there is no finger pricking involved. CGM devices, once used, monitor your blood glucose levels at regular intervals and you can also use it to see the impact of different food items and exercises on your blood glucose level and help you plan a better food and exercise routine for a healthy living.

They also mentioned that managing diabetes is possible through the right diet and nutrition and maintaining a physically active lifestyle. Fluctuating glucose levels can be a constant source of concern and stress. That’s why it is necessary to know what are the changes, that you can make in your lifestyle that can help you manage your levels better.

To know the changes to make, you must first understand what makes your glucose levels fluctuate. Here are some important factors that affect glucose levels:

Diet – Healthy eating is a very important aspect of glucose management. Take advice from your doctor, nurse, or dietitian about the nutritional intake and the appropriate balance of food types.

Staying Active – An active lifestyle helps you to control and manage your glucose levels in a better and more prominent way.

Stress Management – Stress can produce hormones that can cause a rise in your glucose levels. Also, being stressed can take you off your daily routine, and that eventually impacts your glucose level. Make activities and relaxation techniques like deep breathing and yoga part of your daily routine to keep stress at bay.

Proper Glucose Monitoring – Opt for using a simple yet highly effective continuous glucose monitoring to monitor glucose levels and how everything in your daily routine impacts your blood glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitoring makes glucose monitoring more frequent and easy and lets you check the impact of every food item or activity on your glucose levels and you can make diet and lifestyle changes accordingly.

Conclusion

Diabetes care and management are very doable when you are constantly monitoring your blood sugar levels, eating nutritious foods, and getting adequate exercise.

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15 comments

  1. I was most worried of not getting gestational diabetes when I was pregnant. Like you mentioned that it could become permanent and as my mom is also diabetic, I was even more concerned.

  2. I was so worried when I was diagnosed with Gestational diabetes. Thank you for sharing information for new moms to be. It is important to know why should you manage your sugar levels effectively in such an important phase of life

    • I have heard a lot of women get gestational diabetes during pregnancy. But I also feel there is no need to worry about. Just take care of your diet and take appropriate medications with utmost sincerity and you will overcome this in no time.

  3. I think it’s a must to read for all pregnant women as gestational diabetes is so common. Thanks for sharing!

  4. Thank god that I didn’t get Gestational Diabetes during both the pregnancies. But I have friends who got it. Knowing about it can help us in preventing it from happening.

  5. When I was expecting, my doctor also told me about the risk of gestational diabetes and asked me to check my blood sugar levels regularly. But I would skip testing due to the fear of needle pricks. I wish I knew about such a CGM device so that I had nothing to worry about.

  6. Every woman who is pregnant should have regular tests to check for gestational diabetes. Your post is detailed and has every information attributed to it.

  7. Gestational diabetes is a serious condition during pregnancy that requires proper monitoring and check ups. it could lead fetal to mom and baby if there is lack of medical intervention. thanks for sharing useful info on this topic.

  8. A friend of mine had gestational diabetes. I remember her taking insulin daily it is indeed a tough situation. Your information will be mic helpful to many

  9. Gestational diabetes is so common yet its something I wasn’t aware. Thank you for sharing this seems quite useful to know and protect from or take proper care if detected

  10. The solution to most ailments are healthy food and regular exercise but we tend to forget about our health and take care of everything but ourselves. We should change that in order to avoid such complications.

  11. Have had a few friends / acquaintances who have had gestational diabetes and they had quite a few complications like high blood pressure and one had a premature baby and another had to go for C-section. Timely management and following healthy lifestyle is key. Thanks for this informative post!

  12. Gestational diabetes are common and sometimes goes unnoticed and many mothers do not do the test for the fear of infection through pricking. This device is revolutionary to measure the sugar levels.

  13. Thankfully I didn’t get Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy. But I know friends and relatives who developed it. It is important to be aware of it and take necessary steps.

  14. Managing Gestational Diabetes is vital for personal and baby’s health. You have touched upon some critical points one needs to keep in mind. A continuous blood glucose monitoring system is really beneficial for proper monitoring, thanks for sharing the details.

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