What Causes Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is not very common, in fact less than one in 25 pregnant women will ever suffer with it. This does not reduce the amount of worry that it causes when we hear about it.

Just because you have gestational diabetes it doesn’t automatically mean that you will be diabetic when you are no longer pregnant. Usually once your pregnancy runs full term your diabetes will either clear up all together or will at least improve dramatically.

When you are pregnant your body goes through enormous changes. Lets be honest you are growing another human being inside you so your body has to do lots and lots of work.

Your body will be producing hormones that alter the way that your system deals with insulin. It does this so the baby gets enough glucose, which is vital for growth and general health.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas and usually, your pancreas simply adjusts the amount of insulin that it produces. To compensate for the changes in glucose and insulin levels caused by being pregnant your pancreas produces more insulin so that your own blood sugar levels remain normal.

If your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to meet the extra demands  that being pregnant creates then you will become diabetic.

So what can you do to prevent developing gestational diabetes?

If you are planning to get pregnant (I know that isn’t always the way it works) then you should look at your weight. If you are overweight it can not only impede you getting pregnant in the first place but can also increase the likelyhood of your developing gestational diabetes.

Cut down on alcholic intake, again this can cause problems when you are trying to get pregnant anyway. Why not make it a family event, if both you and your partner/spouse decide to lose weight and cut out (or at least cut down) on your alchol intake you not only increase the chances of becoming pregnant but you also decrease the chances of deveoping diabetes while you are pregnant.