How dangerous is gestational diabetes to the fetus?

Don't panic if you get diagnosed with gestational diabetes (gestational diabetes). As long as you have a proper diet and exercise, your health will be easily controlled.

When you are 20 weeks pregnant, you may have gestational diabetes due to a hormonal disorder or your body cannot synthesize insulin. Gestational diabetes is common in obese people with type 2 diabetes gene . Treatment in this case is usually to adjust the high fiber diet, cut down on starch, and inject insulin if necessary (as directed by the doctor).

What is gestational diabetes?

1. What causes gestational diabetes?

You will be diagnosed with a disease when the pancreas does not produce enough the hormone insulin to meet the body's needs or the insulin reduces the impact on the body or the body does not metabolize insulin well. Glucose is an essential nutrient that provides energy for the functioning of cells in the body. But glucose cannot transport itself from the bloodstream into cells, but with the help of insulin. Therefore, you will have diabetes when your blood sugar is high.

During pregnancy, as the energy requirements are higher, your body has a need to increase the amount of sugar. It is great that your body produces insulin levels in line with the need for increased sugar during pregnancy. But in fact, not all pregnant women have such advantages.

In addition, during pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones that help the fetus grow. These hormones exert several adverse effects on insulin, leading to hormonal disruption. If your insulin and blood sugar levels reach the same mark and keep your blood sugar at safe levels, you are not in the category of gestational diabetes. Therefore, if you are found to have gestational diabetes, it is because insulin does not control blood sugar levels. To keep this under control, you have to lower your sugar or increase insulin or both.

2. Who is more likely to get diabetes during pregnancy?

You will be in a group at risk for gestational diabetes if you have one of the following factors:

Pregnant when over 30 years old.

Family with someone with type 2 diabetes .

You were overweight and obese before and during pregnancy.

You have had this disease in your previous pregnancy.

What are signs of gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes goes on quietly, you only know if you have it or not until you have a regular check-up and your doctor will give you a test for gestational diabetes . Some of the common signs of gestational diabetes in pregnant women with this condition are:

Constantly thirsty, or wake up in the middle of the night to drink water.

Urinating a lot and the amount of urine is also higher than other pregnant women.

If accidentally scratched, the injury will take a long time to heal.

The genital area is infected with the fungus, the usual antifungal creams / medications don't go away.

Weight loss, fatigue, drowsiness, lack of vitality.

Diet for pregnant women with diabetes

If you have gestational diabetes, it's very important to choose the right foods to help you control your weight. Following a healthy, scientific diet that combines sensible movement during pregnancy helps you manage the disease without having to resort to medications.

1. Change your diet

"What should I eat when I have gestational diabetes?" is the question of most pregnant women who encounter this condition. Your doctor will teach you how to maintain the right nutrition and how to balance the amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in your diet every day. These guidelines are for general use only in the treatment of gestational diabetes. In fact, your diet will depend on your health conditions such as blood glucose levels, weight, exercise habits, eating preferences and taste. An experienced dietitian can help you plan an effective diet for pregnant women with gestational diabetes .

Experts often encourage women with gestational diabetes to maintain the following eating habits:

♦ Have a good breakfast

No matter how busy you are, you should eat a full breakfast to ensure energy for the working day, avoid cravings that lead to difficult to control eating. Eating a nutritious breakfast helps to stabilize blood sugar . You can eat whole grain breakfast with a boiled egg, dessert with a jar of yogurt.

♦ Stay away from sugary and starchy foods

To keep blood sugar levels from rising too high, you need to stay away from foods that have the potential to increase sugar, such as sugar, honey, brown sugar, syrup, starch ... The reason is these foods. will disrupt the blood sugar balance because insulin in your body cannot fully metabolize your sugar intake. When examining food packaging, keep in mind that the ingredients that have the OSE letters are always sugar (sucrose, dextrose, glucose). You can eat foods with moderate amounts of sugar, but try to stay away from foods with higher than standards, such as baked goods, cakes, cakes, ice cream, candies and soft drinks. Therefore, you can eat foods like corn (corn), whole grain bread, beans, apples, pears, oranges ...

♦ Abstain from drinking fruit juice

Even the natural sugars in fruit can raise blood sugar, so limit your intake of whole fruit juice. Nutritionists and doctors say that you can sometimes drink about 30ml of juice with meals. Alternatively, you can mix fruit juice with soda to dilute the sugar and increase your appetite. Tomato juice is also a good choice as it is low in sugar. You can eat fresh fruit, as fresh fruits contain fiber that slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream.

♦ Eat less refined foods

Choose unrefined starchy foods. If you eat too many refined carbohydrates like white rice, mashed potatoes, and white bread, they will quickly turn into sugar, which increases blood sugar. Instead, focus on eating fiber- rich foods such as whole grains, beans, peas and vegetables ... These foods help reduce the amount of insulin your body needs to keep blood sugar levels in. normal level.

♦ Eat foods containing chromium

This mineral has been shown to help improve glucose tolerance in gestational diabetes. Therefore, always include foods containing chromium in your daily diet. You can find this mineral in whole grain products, spinach, carrots, and chicken. Consult your doctor if you want to take a chromium supplement.

♦ Eat foods low in fat

Everyone needs fat through their diet, especially pregnant women. However, a high-fat diet may not be entirely healthy for you. You should focus on eating foods containing healthy fats from nuts or fortified with vegetable oils such as soybean oil, sunflower oil, olive oil ...

2. Control your meals

Because you are too afraid of high blood sugar, you skip meals. In fact, this does not stabilize blood sugar. The rule is that you should not overeat in one meal, but divide the serving size into smaller meals.

Eat at least three main meals and three snacks a day (including a bedtime snack) and divide them into the most even amount of time possible. Another rule that applies to all pregnant women and those with gestational diabetes is even more strict than never skipping meals. Skipping meals (or snacks) can lead to hypoglycemia , causing you to experience tremors, headaches, and possibly harm your unborn baby. Snacking is most important for you at night because it will help you prevent hypoglycemia at night. Before bed, eat a snack that contains protein (like low-fat cheese) and carbs (such as white bread). Starches will help stabilize blood sugar in the early evening, while proteins act as long-term stabilizers.

3. Weight control

Excessive weight gain can cause blood sugar to spike, so you need to pay more attention to speed and rate of weight gain. Gaining too much weight quickly (1kg or more / week) will create more body fat and may cause insulin resistance . Therefore, you need to strictly control weight gain.

Consult with your doctor about active exercises during pregnancy to help you lose weight during pregnancy for effective weight management. You can learn yoga exercises for pregnant women to practice at home.

Related issues can not be ignored for pregnant women with gestational diabetes

1. How much index of gestational diabetes?

The National Institutes of Health for the Quality of Treatment , UK (NICE) recommends the following normal blood glucose levels:

If your glycemic index is not within the normal range from the table above, then you have had gestational diabetes. People with diabetes with a blood sugar level lower than 4mmol / L are considered hypoglycemic. At this time, the patient should be given prompt first aid.

2. Pregnant mother with gestational diabetes can affect the fetus?

The fact that you have gestational diabetes, if not well-detected and controlled, can seriously affect the health of both you and your baby. For pregnant mothers, you are at risk of miscarriage, preeclampsia , infection, postpartum haemorrhage , cesarean section due to an enlarged fetus ... The risk to the fetus is death. or have malformations, developmental delay, large fetus susceptible to trauma such as clavicle fracture, shoulder dislocation, easy respiratory failure, decreased lung maturation, hypoglycemia at birth due to high insulin concentration, jaundice and eyes ….

3. What diet for pregnant women with gestational diabetes?

If you have gestational diabetes, you should abstain from cakes, carbonated drinks, fruit juices, milk tea, orange juice, teas ... Please exclude them from your daily menu because of the sugar in foods. This product is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. If you crave juice too much, you are allowed to drink only a very small amount (about 30ml) and dilute with water so that the sugar is absorbed into the blood gradually.

In addition, you should consult your doctor about the types of fruits and how much you can eat. Your obstetrician or nutritionist will give you the best advice.

4. Is it normal to give birth with gestational diabetes?

As mentioned above, the risk of having gestational diabetes increases your chances of having a cesarean section . Children of pregnant women with gestational diabetes are usually very heavy, with babies over 4kg.

If your diet is well controlled, normal fetal development will not affect childbirth. The fact that a cesarean section or a caesarean section usually depends on many factors and can be predicted by the doctor. Caesarean section delivery is not necessarily bad because in some cases this method makes your mother and baby safer.

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5. Can I drink breastmilk when I have gestational diabetes?

For the correct answer, you must consult your doctor. Your doctor will rely on the results of your test to see if the sugar is high or low to give helpful advice. For example, you can still drink regular milk or a milk designed for diabetic pregnant women with low carbohydrate content and no sugar.

6. How does a blood sugar test for pregnant women take place?

You will be ordered to have a blood glucose test using a glucose tolerance test and mid-week 25-28 gestational diabetes. Usually, before the test, your health care provider will give you a drink with sugar but no sugar. Soda. About 1 hour after drinking, you will have a blood test. Blood tests are not dangerous for mother and baby. You will see the results of the test within 1-2 days.

If the screening results show that your blood sugar is from 140 milligrams glucose per 1 deciliter of plasma (mg / dL), you will be tested for glucose tolerance . The glucose tolerance test is to measure blood glucose after 2 hours of taking 75g of glucose. This means that the blood sample is sent to the lab and waited 1-2 days for the results to be found. If your results show high sugar levels, you'll be carefully monitored by your doctor. In cases where the glucose level is too high, insulin injections are needed.

7. Can pregnant women with gestational diabetes eat sweet potatoes?

The answer is yes. In fact, if you know how to eat sweet potatoes properly, it will have the effect of controlling and preventing blood sugar:

You should eat baked potatoes instead of boiled or steamed potatoes.

Do not eat sweet potatoes at night, but eat them at noon. The reason is that after eating, the amount of calcium in sweet potatoes takes up to 4 hours to be absorbed into the body, if you eat at night you will probably feel uncomfortable.

Consult with your physician or a registered dietitian about how much potatoes you can eat each day and follow the instructions strictly.

8. How much does a gestational diabetes test cost?

Currently, the cost of testing for gestational diabetes ranges from 300,000 to 700,000 VND depending on the fee of each hospital. Usually, you will be ordered to have a test for gestational diabetes during pregnancy between 25 and 28 weeks. Before the test for gestational diabetes, your doctor will tell you to fast about 8 hours in advance for a fasting blood glucose test, followed by a glucose tolerance test (blood glucose measurement after 2 hours of taking 75g of sugar). glucose) and HbA1C test .

If you have any questions, contact your doctor or a dietitian. Your doctor and dietitian can help you build a healthy diet to ensure you have a healthy pregnancy.