Gestational diabetes is often a neglected infection of 1 to 2% of all pregnant women is typically in the second half of pregnancy. Because the disease almost always goes without any symptoms, but without treatment can have serious consequences for the fetus, every pregnant woman between the 20th and 28th week of pregnancy should be investigated. This is especially true for obese women and women whose close relatives have diabetes.

Gestational diabetes is a disorder in carbohydrate metabolism that occurs or is discovered during pregnancy. If dietary measures alone are sufficient for the disorder under control, or whether this is insulin, does not matter.

What causes gestational diabetes?
Essentially a pregnancy can be compared to a state of chronic malnutrition. Both the growth of the maternal organs uterus, breast as the development of the child and the placenta to ensure significant changes occurred during pregnancy in the metabolism of the mother.
There is both more glucose into the fruit, while the mother herself fatter, especially free fatty acids, used as a primary energy source. The mother saves her glucose was, for her child. This has caused the fasting blood sugar or glucose in normal pregnant women is lower than outside pregnancy.
Despite the lower fasting glucose increases the blood sugar after glucose load, and so after a meal, during the pregnancy to higher values and it decreases more slowly than non-pregnant women. This is caused by some form of 'insulin resistance' or 'insulin resistance', based on the placenta. This is because a number of hormones that counteract the normal insulin function. The pancreas of the pregnant woman is obliged to produce more insulin in order to ensure that blood sugar rises too high, These ranges from a two to three times the normal production.

One can thus actually a pregnancy as a physiological stress state of the pancreatic beta-cells that produce insulin. How the sugar metabolism during pregnancy will continue normally, depends on the presence of adequate beta cell reserve in the mother. The latter is not large enough, gestational diabetes occurs.
In most cases, insulin resistance disappears a few days after birth, coinciding with the removal of the placenta, and the diabetes disappears.

Risks to the mother:
Although the disorder usually disappears after childbirth, the mother is a great opportunity to develop diabetes again in a future pregnancy.

Risks to the child:
The higher blood levels of the mother, who through the placenta to go over the fetus, encourage the child to an increased insulin secretion by the pancreas own. These elevated insulin levels cause an overgrowth of the Macrosomia with a greater accumulation of lipid, a larger placenta and amniotic more.
The risk of perinatal complications - including premature birth, trauma during delivery such as a shoulder dislocation, hypo ... - For such a child is larger than normal.
The child is usually heavier for gestational age and apparently looks healthier than in reality. Moreover, such a child to run a higher risk of developing diabetes later in life.

Gestational Diabetes Treatment:
Since most women with gestational diabetes are obese, is a reduction of food intake as a measure for the first hand. Depending on the degree of obesity will be limited to energy intake from 1500 to 1800 calories per day, where a normal pregnant, especially in the second half of pregnancy, getting at least 2,000 calories. If women with gestational diabetes are not obese, then they may also hesitate to 2000 calories.

 At least half of the energy should come from unrefined, slow contained carbohydrates (like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables, etc. Refined 'quick' sugars (like candy, chocolate, soft drinks ...) are highly undesirable.

Often it is useful, in addition to three main meals, a snack to take at bedtime, in order to avoid nocturnal hypoglycemia. Others have benefited with more frequent smaller meals spread throughout the day. Will usually be advised to not to extend to breakfast, but earlier in the morning to eat a snack.

Except for energy intake and the carbohydrate concern, the power of a different woman with gestational diabetes is not that of a normal pregnant in protein, iron, calcium, magnesium and other vitamins and minerals.

Important Notice: This article is only information based. So please always consult doctor first.