Gestational diabetes is a version of the disease that occurs during pregnancy. This means your wellbeing is at risk to high blood sugar, which can also affect your baby’s wellness.
However, there is a treatment plan, which includes checking your blood sugar levels frequently, following a diet plan, exercising, watching your weight, and sometimes taking insulin medication, and this is all aimed at keeping your blood sugar as steady and close to normal as possible.
According to Kelly O’Connor, a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator at Mercy Medical Centre in Baltimore, ‘The goal of gestational diabetes treatment is to have regular monitoring of your blood sugars so that adjustments can be made in your diet to get your blood sugar back under control as soon as possible. If you need to take insulin, that will also need to be adjusted. That is a lot to learn about and keep track of’.
That’s a lot to handle, so who’s going to help you? O’Connor says, ‘The ideal gestational diabetes treatment team should include your obstetrician, a dietician who is a diabetes educator, a registered nurse who is also a diabetes educator, and an endocrinologist. An endocrinologist is especially important if you are taking insulin and can help by consulting on insulin adjustments’.
These medical health professionals can help you with the physical nitty gritty of your condition, but what about your emotional wellness? You also need a strong support system of your friends, family and your partner, especially if they are willing to take an active role in your pregnancy. This is important because there is a lot to learn and keep track of, and the whole process can be overwhelming. You need to take the first step to ask for help, as O’Connor advises, ‘Treating gestational diabetes is a team effort. We have our patients come in every two to three weeks throughout their pregnancy. We can help them, but the most important thing is that they learn how to take care of themselves and learn when to ask for help’.
When you do feel overwhelmed, remember that gestational diabetes nearly always goes away after you give birth, and even though you will have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life and having gestational diabetes again in a future pregnancy, the same good diet and exercise practices that your team has helped you implement can reduce those risks if you stick with them. Remember: the most important person on your gestational diabetes treatment team is you.
Comments are closed.