Causes of Gestational Diabetes: It usually takes place between week 24 and week 28 of pregnancy when insulin gets blocked by hormones from the placenta. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that regulates the body’s metabolism of fats and helps the body converting sugar into energy. It prevents the body from regulating the increased blood sugar of pregnancy effectively. This causes high levels of sugar in the blood which can damage the nerves, organs and blood vessels in our body.
Factors Causing Gestational Diabetes Every mom-to-be should get their diabetes checked if they come across below factors:
· Overweight- The average weight gain during pregnancy should be between 8-20 kg as per their BMI. Any excess above that makes one overweight and it is one of the most common risk factors of gestational diabetes.
· Higher Level of Abdominal Fat- As per recent research, women who gain high level of tummy fat in their first trimester pregnancy are more likely to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes later.
· Mid Age- Women over the age of 35 have a tendency to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
· Family History- If diabetes runs in the family, one should be extra careful and get it checked every month.
Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes
· Unusual thirst
· Heavily frequent urination
· Fatigue
· Sugar in urine diagnosed through test
How it can be diagnosed? Frequent urine tests cannot diagnose the gestational diabetes during pregnancy. But around 28 weeks, Gynecologist will ask for Glucose Screening Test. It involves taking sugary liquid and an hour later checking the sugar level, if it is high then further Three Hour Glucose Tolerance Test is taken to determine gestational diabetes.
Is it Harmful for the Mother and Baby? Women having excessive gestational diabetes are at a risk of having too large baby and likely to get C-Section. With proper care & nutrition, gestational diabetes can be managed and not at all harmful for mother as well as baby.
Prevention of Gestational Diabetes Staying active, eating a healthy diet and keeping an eye on the BMI scale are key factors that helps in prevention of it. In our day to day lives, it is difficult to keep a track on the above mentioned checklist. How about a personal health coach doing all these and more for you? Sounds good? Right!
Physioplus helps in managing gestational diabetes by guiding you on every step. It helps women who have been diagnosed with GDM by giving them right nutrition, exercise tips and ensuring overall treatment compliance.
Physioplus is India’s largest home healthcare company which has served lakhs of patients at the comfort of their home. It provides hospital like care at home, maintaining high hygiene while being extremely affordable and flexible as per patients need. They also provide nurses, physiotherapists and attendants for home visits. The program consists of below elements-
· Personal Health Coach – A personal health coach is assigned to every patient to cater their health needs whether it is weight/ stress management, FAQ’s around gestational diabetes. Follow ups are done over call/ text messages.
· Personal Nutritionist – Diet plays an important element in controlling high glucose in body. A personal nutritionist helps in providing customized GDM diet plan and also follows up on the same. Their personalized approach has 99% success rate. It is all done over phone/texts messages.
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