A metabolic disorder that first develops during pregnancy due to the body's inability to produce and use insulin properly, resulting in elevated blood sugar levels. This rise in blood glucose can be harmful to both mother and fetus if not properly controlled.
Associated risk factors include obesity, family history of diabetes, advanced maternal age, and a history of gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies.
It usually goes unnoticed without obvious symptoms, but some women may experience excessive thirst, increased urination, fatigue and blurred vision.
Diagnosis is made by glucose screening tests during pregnancy, usually between 24 and 28 weeks. If the diagnosis is confirmed, it is important to control blood glucose levels through diet, exercise and, in some cases, medications such as insulin.
- American Diabetes Association Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2018. Diabetes Care. 2018;41:S13–S27. doi: 10.2337/dc18-S002.
- Wang H., Li N., Chivese T., Werfalli M., Sun H., Yuen L., Hoegfeldt C.A., Elise Powe C., Immanuel J., Karuranga S., et al. IDF Diabetes Atlas: Estimation of Global and Regional Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevalence for 2021 by International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group’s Criteria. Diabetes Res. Clin. Pract. 2022;183:109050. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2021.109050.
- McIntyre H.D., Catalano P., Zhang C., Desoye G., Mathiesen E.R., Damm P. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Nat. Rev. Dis. Primers. 2019;5:47. doi: 10.1038/s41572-019-0098-8.
- Early age at menarche and gestational diabetes mellitus risk: results from the healthy baby Cohort studyDiabetes Metab. (2017), 10.1016/j.diabet.2017.01.002.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gestational-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20355339
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gestational-diabetes/
