Simranjit Kaur

Mother of one, Master of Education with specialization in child-psychology. After becoming mother, I met with real me. I am now learning new concepts of parenting every fresh day and sharing my experiences with other mothers. I believe, one of the most important things that you, as a parent, should work on is - your child's psychology. Understanding the child-psychology will help you build stronger bonds and know them better.

If you are suffering from gestational diabetes, then you have to be extra careful about several things. Do you know that by keeping your blood sugar level under control during pregnancy, you can keep your child away from the possibility of having any congenital heart disease? During pregnancy, you can take the following precautions to keep yourself at a distance from gestational diabetes problems. However, before learning about the precautions, it is important to know the causes and signs of gestational diabetes.

You are more likely to have gestational diabetes if:

• You are obese and your body mass index is more than 30. Your doctor can tell you more about body mass index.
• You previously had a baby weighing more than 4.5 kg.
• You had diabetes at a previous pregnancy too.
• You have close family members with grade 1 diabetes history.

ALSO READ – Fetal Macrosomia – All About Giving Birth To An Overweight baby

Although gestational diabetes is not a very common problem, yet you can predict it through following symptoms –

• You feel very tired.
• You feel a dry mouth and you feel thirsty again and again.
• You often urinate.
• You have blurred vision.

Do Consult Your Doctor Before Getting Pregnant

If you are suffering from diabetes, it is advisable to see your doctor before conception. Through several tests, your doctor can check the severity of diabetes and affects diabetes already had on your body. The doctor will not only ask you to control your blood glucose level, but if he feels, he can suggest you new medications, or he may suggest you a few changes in your current medication and will ask you for regular checkups. If the doctor finds you overweight, he will ask you to lose weight, in order to control your glucose level before pregnancy.

Have A Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is very important for people suffering from diabetes. A nutritionist can help you create a healthy diet list and food that can help you in controlling blood sugar during pregnancy. Hence, if you are a diabetic, then you must meet a nutritionist.

Quick Treatment of Hypoglycemia

Do you know that controlling your blood sugar levels may lead to hypoglycemia? Therefore, If you are taking diabetes or insulin medicines, then you must have some source of sugar such as toffee, candy or glucose tablets, etc. For your help, it is better to make your friends or family aware of your hypoglycemic crisis.

ALSO READ – Hypoglycemia in Newborns – Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment

Exercise Regularly

Exercise is another way to keep your blood sugar level under control. With the approval of your doctor, you can have exercise sessions, during and after the pregnancy. Do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercises for at least 5 days a week.

Take Your Medicines And Insulin As Prescribed

If your doctor prescribes medicines or insulin, take them to keep your blood sugar under control. Should you make any negligence here, you may have to face serious damage.

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Monitor Your Blood Glucose More Often

Because your body’s energy needs are constantly changing, your blood sugar may change very quickly. You should check your blood glucose more often at the recommendation of your doctor. It’s important to learn what to eat, how to do exercise, how much insulin you take, depending on your blood glucose test results.

If you left gestational diabetes undiagnosed and untreated, it will not only hurt you but also the child. By receiving a higher amount of energy than needed for growth, the fetus will surplus as fat and will become fatter, becoming larger and heavier than normal (macrosomia).

Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of having birth complications such as premature birth. Therefore, you must not ignore gestational diabetes.