Pregnancy Complications For A Diabetic Patient

The most common complication in pregnancy is diabetes. It is defined as the body’s inability to generate adequate amount of insulin as required or incorporate the insulin already produced normally.

Despite its high frequency in women, it is quite easy to deal with it by taking the right precautions and measures for ensuring a healthy and safe delivery.

Consulting a specialist at the right time is very crucial and a step in the right direction towards protecting the to-be-mother and her child.

Symptoms of diabetes during pregnancy

Without testing, diabetes cannot be identified. It is only when you get tested that you can know about the condition.

Diagnosis

Essentially, all non-diabetic pregnant women are evaluated for gestational diabetes somewhere between 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. A glucose screening test is undertaken during this time. For the test, one needs to have a glucose drink, 2 hours after which the blood glucose levels will be tested.

On the off chance when this test shows a high blood glucose level, a 3-hour glucose resistance test will be conducted. If the results of the subsequent test are not normal, the patient may be diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Complications

Usually, these complications occur in women who are already suffering from diabetes before getting pregnant. Some of them are as follows:

• Getting insulin shots at a more frequent pace
• Very low blood glucose levels, which can eventually become life threatening, if not treated at the right time
• High levels of blood glucose may eventually lead to ketoacidosis, which again can be life threatening, if left untreated.

Complications for the baby may include:

Stillbirth (fetal death) – Stillbirth occurs more commonly in women who have diabetes. The growth rate of the fetus is rather slow as a result of poor blood circulation. It can also be due to other conditions such as tormented small blood vessels or high blood pressure (hypertension). The specific reason behind why stillbirth happens more because of diabetes in pregnancy is not yet known.

If the woman has poor blood glucose control or changes in the blood vessels, the risk of still birth builds up even more.

Birth defects – Babies of women who have been suffering from diabetes during pregnancy usually have more chances of having birth defects. Sometimes, if the birth defect is very severe, it may lead to stillbirth. Birth defects have a higher chance of occurring in the first trimester of pregnancy. Infants of mothers suffering from diabetes can have severe birth defects such as defects in heart, brain, blood vessels, urinary system, spine, kidneys or digestive system.

Preeclampsia – Women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are at a higher danger for toxaemia in pregnancy. To lessen the danger, a pregnant woman is by and large, encouraged to take low portion ibuprofen after the first trimester until delivery.

Macrosomia – Macrosomia implies that the baby is a lot bigger than an ordinary infant. The entirety of the fundamental supplements the child gets in the uterus come directly from the mother’s blood. In case the mother’s blood has unnecessarily high sugar, the pancreas of the child may make more insulin to utilise abundant glucose, which can cause fat development. This makes the child extremely huge.

Respiratory problems (trouble in breathing) – A huge amount of insulin or glucose in the baby’s body may hold the lungs back from growing totally, which can disturb his/her breathing. The infants which are delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy are more likely to suffer from respiratory problems.

Birth injury – An infant’s large size can lead to birth injury. This can cause severe problems at the time of the baby’s delivery.

Hypoglycemia – The infant may have low degrees of blood glucose just after delivery. This issue happens in case the mother’s blood glucose levels have been high for quite a while. This prompts a considerable amount of insulin in the baby’s blood. After delivery, the infant keeps on having a high insulin level, yet no longer has glucose from the mother. This causes the infant’s blood glucose level to get extremely low. The infant’s blood glucose level is checked after birth. On the off chance that the level is too low, the child may require glucose through an IV.

Treatment

Treatment will depend upon your signs and symptoms, age and your overall wellbeing. It will likewise rely upon how serious the condition is.

Treatment centres around keeping the blood glucose levels within normal levels and may include:

A cautious eating routine includes low measures of starch food sources and beverages, exercise, oral medications for hypoglycemia, insulin infusions, etc.

Preventive measures

Diabetes occurs in various forms. Hence, it is not possible to prevent all variants. Type 1 diabetes is rather difficult to prevent as it occurs at a young age. Whereas, type 2 diabetes is easier to prevent if the female loses weight and keeps a healthy weight through exercise. Food habits also play a major role in preventing type 2 diabetes. Eating less junk and more healthy foods keeps the female’s weight in check.

Specialists to guide you at Yashoda:

1) Dr. Shashi Arora –She is the best Obstetrician & Gynecologist in Delhi NCR. With a medical experience spanning a period of more than 40 years, she has performed 60,000+ deliveries till date. She specializes in all women-related issues including hysterectomy and advanced laparoscopy surgery.

2) Dr. Jyotsana Agarwal – She has an experience of 30 years. She is an esteemed member of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and offers a number of medical services including treatment of diseases during pregnancy among others.

3) Dr. Aparna Arya Tyagi – She has hands-on experience in high-risk obstetrics and management, complicated cesarean sections, laparoscopic and open gynae surgeries and family planning procedures.