Gestational Diabetes Complications

The good news is that gestational diabetes complications can typically be avoided if the disease is caught early and a proper control plan is followed. Nonetheless, it is important to be educated as much as possible regarding the risks associated with the condition.

Gestational diabetes primarily affects the baby in the latter pregnancy stages. While insulin does not travel from the mother to the baby, glucose does. Thus, if the mother is not managing her blood glucose levels properly, the extra glucose she is carrying can pass to the baby.

This causes a number of different complications.

The baby now has to produce additional insulin to get rid of the extra glucose passed from the mother. The extra glucose energy is not needed by the baby, thus it is stored as fat.

The baby can develop a condition called Macrosomia ("fat baby") due to the increased weight. Macrosomia affects both the mother and child.

The mother may now have to have a cesarean section, as the baby is too large to travel through the birthing canal.

Alternatively, she may experience an aggravated labor due to the baby's increased size if no caesarean is performed.

The baby may suffer a shoulder injury during the birth because of its increased size. Macrosomia babies also have additional risk of low blood sugar and breathing problems at birth.

Beyond the birth, babies also have a higher risk of childhood obesity. Regardless of weight, babies of mother's with gestational diabetes have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.