Hyperglycemia and pregnancy represent a very important subject, either if you have diabetes and you want a child or if you got pregnant and found out afterwards that you have hyperglycemia. Pregnant women that have diabetes have high chances for the pregnancy to develop normally, but only with precaution and adequate preventive measures. However you must be aware that you face higher risks (including losing the pregnancy) so you must approach this situation with high responsibility.
For women that know they have this condition, the best they can do is take care and plan the pregnancy. The illness’ manifestation must be under 10 years and the woman’s age must be under 30, while the diabetes shouldn’t have developed chronic complications. It is important to control the glycemia before the pregnancy and immediately after you got pregnant in order to avoid the hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia (glycemia is identical with the baby’s and a high/low level could affect him more severely).You must also have several medical checkups at the obstetrician and the specialist in charge of diabetes.
Hyperglycemia during pregnancy is much more important if you have not suffered from any condition before; during pregnancy, the blood sugar can reach a high level – condition named gestational diabetes, so you will have to follow certain rules, especially because you could face later on type one I or type II hyperglycemia. This is why gestational diabetes must be discovered in time, to allow you to control the blood sugar quantity.
What are the risks of hyperglycemia and pregnancy?
In the first two pregnancy months, you must be extremely cautious regarding the hyperglycemia level, because the baby’s vital organs are developing in this period, so a high or low level of sugar can affect this development severely and could lead to a miscarriage. If you know you have diabetes, plan carefully the pregnancy and be careful.
Even If you don’t have hyperglycemia, but you have a high sugar blood level, the fetus could be born overweight and could develop respiratory troubles.
Plan the pregnancy before 30 as much as you can and avoid a pregnancy if you have chronic complications.
If you have hyperglycemia, the risks involve a difficult birth, premature birth and even pregnancy loss, especially if you are not precautious enough and if you are over 30 and have had this condition for over 10 years now.
Especially in the first three months of pregnancy, it’s very important to check and to maintain a normal level of sugar, because the fetus’ vital organs could be affected and you could have a baby with severe deficiencies and malformations.
Even if you do give birth to a healthy baby, he has many risks to develop diabetes in the future.
What to do?
When referring to hyperglycemia and pregnancy, if you know you have this condition, the most important thing is to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. Schedule the pregnancy, because you have to control carefully the sugar level before conceiving, even 6 months before- this helps control the sugar level once you get pregnant. As it was said before, the risks are low if you are under 30 and you have not had this condition for more than10 years.
Be careful with glycemia control, especially in first 3 months (high risk.
If you were taking on oral anti-diabetics, you must take insulin to avoid the risk of the malformation of the fetus.
Get periodic medical checkups, more frequently than a woman that does not have diabetes. Keep in touch with your gynecologist and your diabetes doctor, who are making sure you are monitored during the pregnancy constantly. Consult a dietician periodically, who will prescribe a strict diet through which you’ll avoid a risky weight gain during pregnancy.
In addition to healthy and rational diets, make sure you take iron, calcium, vitamins and mineral supplements necessary for the good development of the fetus.
In the first trimester you must constantly control the glycemia level (including hypoglycemia) and consult the doctor periodically. A high or low level of glycemia could cause malformations for the fetus.
In the second trimester you will have another ultrasound which will control the growth and development of the baby and more frequent medical visits for discovering eventual complications.
If you benefit from the attention and help of the qualified doctors (gynecologist, diabetes doctor, dietician, podiatrist) and you control your sugar level, your pregnancy will develop normally and you will be able to enjoy having a healthy baby!