Pregnancy is, for many women, supposed to be one of the most transformative periods in their lives, when they cease to live only for their bodies and instead have to live for two — even if one is still developing.

However, pregnancy can also be fraught with various complications that add extra stress to an already stressful experience. These experiences can even be life-threatening to the mother, and those that aren’t can still be an ordeal.

This includes gestational diabetes, which is when the body develops diabetes due to hormonal fluctuations affecting insulin resistance.

We wanted to fill in our readership with some crucial facts about diabetes and pregnancy.

1. You Don’t Need To Have A Family History

One of the strongest predictors of attaining diabetes is having a family history of the disease, mainly a close relative like a parent. However, gestational diabetes is unique because it can crop up in women who don’t have a family with a history.

While that may sound very worrying, especially if your close family does tend to attain diabetes, another fact makes this one less of a problem.

2. Gestational Diabetes Isn’t Permanent

It’s true! Gestational diabetes is unique in another way — it usually goes away after a woman gives birth.

While people with type 2 diabetes must make extensive lifestyle changes to rid themselves of the illness, such as diet and exercise, the lack of pregnancy stress is enough for many women who once had gestational diabetes.

However, sometimes diabetes doesn’t go away after pregnancy. In that case, we advise that you consult with your doctor immediately to see how they can manage the illness.

3. The Risk Is Higher If You’re Overweight Before Pregnancy

While not all overweight women who become pregnant will get gestational diabetes, it is a definite risk factor.

The are other risk factors for gestational diabetes, which include: being pregnant over the age of 25, having prediabetes before the pregnancy, being African American, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, Pacific Islander, or Indian.

We recommend visiting a doctor to see if you’re at risk of getting gestational diabetes during your pregnancy.

Conclusion

We hope that our article did a more than adequate job in touching on the basics of gestational diabetes. We want all future mothers to be aware of any potential discomfort that might arise during pregnancy and know that they can overcome it with the assistance of licensed medical professionals.