Gestational diabetes, or when a woman develops temporary diabetes when she’s pregnant, is on the upswing, and the worst thing about that, doctors say, is it means more Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Women who get gestational diabetes are much more likely to develop diabetes later in life. Fifty percent of women with gestational diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes within five years of their pregnancy, according to Dr. Brian Egan, Provena Saint Joseph obstetrician/gynecologist. Almost 70 percent of them develop it within 28 years after they were pregnant.
“Pregnancy tends to be a little crystal ball of the future,” Egan said. “It tells us what the future could be, but we do have the opportunity to change that future.”Egan said not only is gestational diabetes a harbinger of Type 2 diabetes, but pre-eclampsia can mean cardiovascular disease later in life.
Gail Pope, of south suburban Channahon, went through it herself. Although she never had any problems arise during her first pregnancy, her blood sugar levels rose with her second one. “I was in my 30s with my second pregnancy,” Pope said, “and they told me I had gestational diabetes. I was shocked. The doctor told me it could show up in my life later.”
Pope’s physician sent her to a dietitian, who taught her how to eat better during her pregnancy to keep her blood sugar level lower. It was mostly cutting carbohydrates and eating more protein, Pope said. After delivery, her blood sugar went back to normal and stayed that way for five years, until her third pregnancy.
“That’s when it really hit me hard,” she said. “I was older, but I honestly didn’t think it was going to come back. They really watched me.”
Pope said she was able to stay off medication and insulin, but she had to pay careful attention to her diet, and she had to go for more appointments with her obstetrician. After delivery, her blood sugar level returned to normal for about a year, then her doctor told her they were creeping up again.
“My sugar and cholesterol and triglycerides, they were all out of whack,” she said. “That’s when I started making significant lifestyle changes.”
Pope said her doctors told her she was heading for Type 2 diabetes if she didn’t. Her father had it, and her gestational diabetes predicted it. Today, with healthy changes in her diet and lifestyle, Pope’s sugars are fine.
Only 8 percent of pregnancies become gestational diabetic cases, Egan explained, but those that do have a much higher chance of becoming Type 2 later. Gestational diabetes doesn’t have a lot of outward effects on the mother during the pregnancy. It’s the delivery when things can get rocky.
Egan said there is a greater risk of birth trauma to both mother and baby when the mother has gestational diabetes, as the babies tend to be larger. If the mother had diabetes before, Egan said she might have vascular problems already, and the baby might be born smaller or with malformations due to problems with the placenta.
Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes might also quickly become hypoglycemic after delivery, with their high levels of insulin. Medical staffs always monitor the baby’s blood sugar for that, Egan said.
Later on, both mother and baby will be at higher risk for diabetes. Egan recommends that women get checkups before becoming pregnant to look for the presence of diabetes.