When you develop diabetes during pregnancy, it's referred to as gestational diabetes. It most often occurs during the second or third trimester, and it's caused by the hormones from your baby's placenta causing your body to become resistant to insulin.
Thankfully, gestational diabetes typically doesn't cause any serious problems. However, it can cause your baby to grow much faster than normal — the high amount of glucose in your blood due to gestational diabetes passes through into your baby's bloodstream, causing them to release insulin in response. Insulin will promote growth, and this can lead to a high birth weight.
A high birth weight can make labor and delivery more difficult. Managing your gestational diabetes well by keeping your blood glucose under control will reduce the likelihood of this happening. To find out how you can manage gestational diabetes, read on.
Eat a Gestational Diabetes Diet
Changing your diet will help keep your blood glucose levels under control. The most important component of the gestational diabetes diet is to avoid sugars and unrefined grains like white rice and white flour — these are absorbed quickly by your body and rapidly turned into glucose, which will lead to blood sugar spikes.
The best foods to eat in order to avoid glucose spikes are low-fat dairy, lean protein, fruits, and vegetables. Spreading your food throughout the day and eating smaller portions at each meal will also keep your blood glucose levels more stable and help avoid sudden spikes in blood sugar.
Perform Gentle Exercise
Exercise uses up some of the glucose stored in your muscle cells, which helps reduce your blood sugar. You can do gentle exercises like walking or riding slowly on a stationary bike in order to help use up the stored glucose, and these low-impact activities are typically safe during pregnancy.
High-impact activities like jogging or aerobics may also be safe, and they can use up stored glucose more quickly. However, you should make sure you ask your obstetrician if high-impact exercise will be safe for you before engaging in any of these activities.
Use Insulin if Necessary
While it's often possible to keep your blood sugar levels low and stable through diet and exercise alone, some people will require insulin in order to keep their blood sugar levels in the right range. This is especially true for people who have high blood sugar levels when they wake up in the morning, as it's hard to reduce this by diet or exercise. Your obstetrician can prescribe insulin injections for you that will help you control your blood sugar better. They'll teach you how to inject them and provide you with the correct dose to take based on your weight.
Insulin is safe for your baby when used properly, but it's important to keep a close eye on your blood glucose levels if you're using insulin to control them — unlike diet and exercise, insulin can cause your blood sugar levels to drop too low, and this can be dangerous. Frequently checking your blood sugar will ensure you're maintaining a level that's not too low and not too high.
Diet, exercise, and insulin (when necessary) can all help you avoid the primary complication of gestational diabetes, which is a high birth weight that can lead to a difficult delivery. If you're having trouble keeping your blood glucose under control, ask your obstetrician for help — they can refer you to a dietician that can help you come up with a diet plan that keeps your blood sugar more stable, and they can also suggest exercises that are safe for you to do while you're pregnant.
Share8 July 2022
Have you recently found out you’re expecting your first baby? Perhaps, you’re both ecstatic and apprehensive. You likely want to do everything in you power to protect the health of your unborn child. If you can relate to this scenario, talk with your trusted OBGYN. This medical professional can offer expert suggestions about issues things such as proper diet and exercise. For instance, your OBGYN might advise you to consume more foods packed with certain nutrients such as potassium and calcium. This individual may also recommend you complete some form of light to moderate exercise on most days of the week. On this blog, I hope you will discover ingenious tips to help you enjoy a healthy pregnancy.
