Pregnancy is something that is so exciting for some people. But, for them who suffer from chronic disease, pregnancy may be a terror. The desire to have a child is as much as the worry of their health problem. One of some chronic diseases that is dangerous both for the mother and the baby is diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition when the sugar in your blood is so high because of the lack ability of your system to store it. There are three types of diabetes. The first type is a condition when body cannot produce insulin at all, the second type is when body produces insulin but it is not enough or it does not work successfully, and the last type is diabetes that is developed when a woman is pregnant. The last type is known as gestational diabetes. It often happens in the second half of pregnancy. Having gestational diabetes during pregnancy, both the mother and the baby’s health can be in danger.
The cause of gestational diabetes
Hormone changes during pregnancy can make the blood sugar become higher than normal. Some hormones help a mother hinder the risk of low blood sugar. To make a balance, pancreas results more insulin. But, when pancreas does not produce insulin the body needs to overcome the high blood sugar, it will results in gestational diabetes.
How diabetes affects the mother and the baby
Gestational diabetes can put both mother and baby in a risk. Diabetes in the first trimester can result in birth defects of the baby and the miscarriage. It affects the major organs of the baby such as brain, heart, and spine. During the second and third trimester, it can increase the weight of the baby which later can make the baby suffers from obesity or even diabetes. After birth, the baby’s blood sugar can drop significantly because the baby will not accept the high blood sugar anymore.
For the mother, diabetes can cause high blood pressure, heart attack, nerve damage, kidney disease, and preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a condition when blood pressure and the amount of protein is high.
What to do if a diabetic woman pregnant
Indeed, having diabetes during pregnancy is terrifying. Yet, some diabetic woman can give birth to a healthy baby if she maintains her health with good treatment. They should see the doctor regularly, eat her medicine punctually, monitor her blood sugar regularly in order if her blood sugar is so high, she can immediately see her doctor, and control her blood sugar with health diet.
