Complications Of Gestational Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes is defined as a condition in which those women that have previously not been diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus start to exhibit high blood sugar levels during their pregnancy. The disease shows very few symptoms and is diagnosed during routine screening in antenatal visits.
The reason why gestational diabetes is considered important is because it comes along with severe complications for the mother as well as the baby.
Women suffering from gestational diabetes have an increased risk of developing Type II Diabetes Mellitus after their pregnancy. They also have an increased incidence of developing pre-eclampsia, which is a medical condition with the manifestation of hypertension and significant amounts of protein in urine. They may also undergo complicated forceps or Caesarean section delivery. Furthermore, women having gestational diabetes leave their children prone to develop Type II diabetes and childhood obesity later in their lives. The risk increases as much as the blood sugar levels of the mother are seen to increase.
There are two main abnormalities that the babies face because of gestational diabetes. These two complications mostly get them admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit. The first complication is growth abnormality and the second is chemical imbalance.
Growth abnormalities are seen in the form of the baby either being too small or too large for their gestational age (medically known as macrosomia). The latter growth abnormality is considered to be a danger sign because it increases the chances of instrumental delivery of the baby or the baby may face problems such as shoulder dystocia during vaginal delivery. About 12% women may have their babies as macrosomic; however, with gestational diabetes, the risk increases to 20%. That means that 1 out of 5 women with gestational diabetes will have her baby prone to develop macrosomia.
Coming up to biochemical imbalances, neonates are at an increased risk of developing hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels), hypocalcemia (low blood calcium levels), hypomagnesemia (low blood magnesium levels), and jaundice. Because of gestational diabetes, there may also be a decrease in the maturity of the baby, which causes them to develop respiratory distress syndrome due to incomplete maturation of the lungs in regards to the synthesis of surfactant.
Many studies have been conducted, which have summarized the fact that gestational diabetes is associated with an increased risk for congenital malformations in the baby. Moreover, it has also been researched that women who have high B.M.I (≥ 25 kg/m²) have an increased risk of developing birth defects after they have developed gestational diabetes.
Affecting around 3 to 10 % of pregnancies, gestational diabetes is considered to be a disease that is harmful both for the mother as well as for the growing baby. Therefore, women are encouraged to take regular antenatal visits in order to get gestational diabetes diagnosed and treated as early as possible; so that they should not develop diabetes after their pregnancy and the baby may also have a safe and normal delivery.
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