Having gestational diabetes (GD) during pregnancy can put you at high risk of pregnancy complications and some problems that affect your baby, particularly if this health metabolic condition is poorly controlled or left untreated! Does it also cause early labor? What you should do to keep your risk of pregnancy complications low if you have GD?
Fortunately, many cases of GD can be managed and controlled successfully during pregnancy. Your doctor can make an appropriate treatment plan to control it. As long as you keep committing and sticking with the prescribed treatment plan, there is nothing to worry about - many pregnant women with GD have proved it. You might also like to read about possible causes of gestational diabetes, before continuing!
So, does gestational diabetes mellitus cause early labor?
Yes it does, particularly if poorly controlled! If you have GD, your insulin doesn’t work as well as like before you get pregnant. It becomes less sensitive and poor in action when reducing the accumulation of glucose in the bloodstream.
The vital function of insulin for your blood sugar
Insulin is a kind of hormone that regularly produced by your pancreas. It has crucial function to help glucose from the bloodstream go into cells of the body. If there is something wrong with the performance of your hormone insulin (either lack of sensitivity problem or lack of quantity), the mechanism of your body to absorb the glucose in the bloodstream will be affected.
As a result, the glucose in the blood cannot be optimally used and converted into energy and therefore then your blood sugar will be easier to rise and you also will be easier to get fatigue because your body don’t get plenty of energy. So, it’s reasonable why insulin is very important for your blood sugar control.
The correlation between high blood sugar and early labor
Normally, the baby will get the higher energy than it needs to support the growth and development of the baby’s organs during pregnancy. Uncontrolled gestational diabetes during pregnancy can flow more blood with high in glucose to the baby. If this continuously occurs, your baby can get extremely excessive energy that stored as fat, which then can cause a condition called fat-baby or macrosomia.
In essence, the continuously flow of high blood sugar to your baby during pregnancy will feed your baby with more fat, which then will make your baby gain weight excessively. And if your baby grows too faster in gaining weight, this can push your body to get early labor (earlier than your due date). Even sometime doctor may recommend the mother to take early delivery when the baby has growing so large.
If you are still confused with this issue, here is a helpful link that can give more detailed information about how does gestational diabetes affect your baby during pregnancy and even after pregnancy!
Controlling your blood sugar is the key
The primary goal of gestational diabetes treatment plan is to control and manage your blood glucose in range of normal level during pregnancy. The normal action of your insulin usually will return naturally soon after pregnancy (about 6 weeks after your childbirth).
Sticking with moderate and regular exercise, eating right as well as like your dietitian prescribes, and gaining pregnancy weight normally are some common home remedies for your blood glucose control. If necessary, your GP /your doctor can give you some insulin replacements when he/she thinks that your insulin respond is very low or when your body produces very low insulin.
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