Gestational diabetes puts your baby at risk of obesity

With Mothers Day last Sunday, many have been asking the question — what does it mean to be a mother?

One definition I like is: “To love unconditionally and put the needs of your children first.”  

It is a privilege to be a mother and to shape the future of your baby. Never is this truer than when you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which affects about 16 per cent of pregnant women in Bermuda

For most women, gestational diabetes disappears after the baby is born, but the risk of developing diabetes later in life remains.

Gestational diabetes is elevated blood sugars in women who have never before been diagnosed with diabetes. When food is eaten, the digestive system turns most of it into sugar (glucose). In order to use this glucose as fuel, it is transported into the cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, takes the glucose from the blood into the cells. If there is not enough insulin, the glucose will remain in the blood.

When a woman is pregnant, she is not only carrying a fetus but a placenta, as well. The function of the placenta is to support the fetus as it grows. Placental hormones can make cells less responsive to insulin.

Some mothers may need up to three times more insulin when they are pregnant and the further they are along in their pregnancy, and the bigger the baby gets, the more insulin they will need.

So as the baby grows and the placenta grows, more insulin is required. If there is not enough insulin, the blood sugars become elevated and gestational diabetes is diagnosed. Although the cause of gestational diabetes is still not completely understood, women with gestational diabetes are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

Blood sugars

Moms with gestational diabetes are referred to the BHB Diabetes Education Centre to learn how to eat healthy and keep blood sugars as close to normal as possible. The goal for the remainder of the pregnancy is to keep the blood sugars tightly controlled so the baby is as healthy as possible and does not gain excess weight, which could complicate the birth and put the baby at risk of being an overweight child and adult. By the time gestational diabetes develops, the baby has been formed and although gestational diabetes will not cause birth defects, the baby may gain excessive weight as a response to mother’s elevated blood sugars. The baby will make more insulin to cope with the higher blood sugars, storing this as fat. A large baby can be more difficult to deliver, may have breathing problems and is at higher risk of becoming an overweight child and adult and of developing type 2 diabetes

For the sake of their unborn child, mothers with gestational diabetes need to learn how to eat healthily and understand the importance of activity.

They also must test their blood sugars at least five times a day to make sure they remain in target range. If mothers have changed their diet and their blood sugar levels are not in range, they are started on insulin so that target blood sugars can be met.

One of the best and healthiest things mothers can do for their children is to breastfeed. Mothers with gestational diabetes should definitely breastfeed their babies, as preliminary studies indicate nursing for just three months reduces the baby’s risk of becoming seriously overweight.

Studies also show that childhood obesity could be reduced by as much as 50 per cent if babies were breastfed for longer than three months — a very significant statistic considering being overweight is one of the most important risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes.

Additional benefits of extended breastfeeding for mothers include lower rates of heart disease, obesity, osteoporosis, ovarian and breast cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Benefits of extended nursing for babies include lower incidences of respiratory and digestive illnesses and lower rates of both child and adulthood obesity, diabetes and cardiac disease.

If you are expecting a baby, celebrate Mother’s Day this year by protecting yourself and your unborn child.

Make healthy choices a priority.