Main Reason Some Women Develop Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and generally resolves after birth. It occurs in approximately three to eight pregnancies in every 100 in the Unites States. The hormones produced by the placenta in pregnancy which include estrogen, cortisol and human placental lactogen are reasons that trigger insulin resistance in women. Such women are predisposed to the condition known as gestations diabetes.

As the pregnancy progresses and the placenta grows larger. Hormone production also increases and so does the level of insulin resistance. This process normally starts between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. When the placenta is delivered at birth, the hormone production stops and so does the condition which causes gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes if left uncontrolled, can lead to all sorts of complications in the baby as it grows older. This includes a predisposition to diabetes.

Risk factors for developing gestational diabetes are:

Being of certain genetic origins like African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Latino
Being overweight or obese
Having first degree family history of type2 diabetes, prediabetes or an earlier history of gestational diabetes
Being above the age of 25
Having a still birth or a large baby
Presence of glycosuria
Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

The presence of 2 or more of these factors places a woman at a high risk of gestational diabetes. The presence of only one of these risk factors, leads to an average risk. No risk factors can more or less exclude the possibility of gestational diabetes.

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Main Reason Some Women Develop Gestational Diabetes