The Risks of Gestational Diabetes
Because of the number of changes that occur in a woman’s body when she is pregnant, she can develop diseases and other issues that she never had before the pregnancy. One example of this is gestational diabetes, which is the name given to a woman’s condition when she has high blood sugar, or glucose, levels during her pregnancy.
Effects on the Mother
Estimates say that 4% of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes at some point during their pregnancies. In some cases, this type of diabetes can actually lead to hyperglycemia. With gestational diabetes, a mother is unable to make and use all of the insulin the body needs. When there is not enough insulin, the glucose levels in the blood build up, which is called hyperglycemia.
Although doctors are not completely sure about what causes this type of diabetes, they think that there is some connection between the placenta and gestational diabetes. The placenta is in charge of emitting hormones that help the baby grow, but they can also inhibit insulin, which takes glucose out of the blood.
Effects on the Baby
Luckily, because gestational diabetes does not usually occur until late in a pregnancy, the baby is less at risk. However, there still exists some danger for the unborn child. Improperly treated gestational diabetes can lead to macrosomia. This is an overly large infant who can have or develop the following health problems:
- Shoulder damage from tight passage through the birth canal
- Extremely low blood sugar levels at birth
- Breathing problems
- Higher risk for obesity
- Higher risk for type 2 diabetes
Contact Us
If properly treated, gestational diabetes may not cause any negative effect on your baby. However, if a doctor does not correctly treat this disorder, a baby can have with health issues and shoulder injuries at birth. For more information on gestational diabetes and other birth injury related topics, contact the Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130 today.