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Home |  Pregnancy overview |  Reproductive Health | Complications | Labor & Birth

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Gestational diabetes: After delivery

In gestational diabetes, insulin requirements drop sharply immediately after delivery. Because of this, the blood-sugar will continue to be monitored closely, especially in the first 24 hours, to determine how much (if any) insulin she requires.

 

In the medium term (i.e. one day after delivery), virtually all gestational diabetics have their insulin stopped.

 

In the long term, a small group may continue to have diabetes, which will need some form of management. This group consists of those who had latent diabetes and pregnancy simply helped to reveal it.

 

 

Post-delivery:  Checking whether she had or has latent diabetes

A newly delivered mother who had gestational diabetes could ask her doctor for the diagnostic test (GTT) to be performed, at least two months after delivery. A negative result means latent diabetes is very unlikely. In any case, if such a mother has the recognized risk factors such as being significantly overweight; losing weight will go some way in reducing her long-term risk of Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fetal malformation and gestational diabetes

There is no increase in the rate of fetal malformations with gestational diabetes. Any fetal malformation that occurs to a woman with gestational diabetes will not be due to this condition. In this, it is important to remember that malformations occur in the earliest phase of pregnancy (when the baby is being ‘formed’) while gestational diabetes is a condition of the second half of pregnancy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Page: Pre-existing diabetes and pregnancy

 

Losing weight and keeping it off will not only have general health dividends. It may also fend off adult-onset diabetes