The statistics for people affected by diabetes is always alarming, but the more astonishing part is the number of pregnant women developing gestational diabetes. Shibaji Roychoudhury reports
Every year when the frightening facts and figures about diabetics in the country are released, every single person is startled. What we don’t realise because of these alarming statistics is that there is an even more serious situation when it comes to pregnant women.
It is predicted that 10 per cent of pregnant women annually develop diabetes during their gestation period, more specifically in the last trimester. While 10 per cent may seem like a menial number, it works out to about three million women annually, among 27 million deliveries.
“It has been medically observed that those who suffer from gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during their pregnancy, 70 per cent, in the following 15-20 years, go on to suffer from diabetes,” Dr Hema Divakar, president, Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI) says.
As far as the symptoms go, women put on humongous weight after pregnancy, following an inactive and unhealthy lifestyle. “Pregnant women follow the advice of their respective gynecologists. The problem starts after the child is born, they forget about all the precautions required and mostly, don’t turn up for follow-up checks,” Dr Divakar tells you.
There are several other risks associated with diabetes during and after pregnancy for both the mother and child. Dr Rajiv Kovil, a consultant diabetologist, claims that failure to comply with the norms of keeping blood sugar under control can be hazardous to the mother and the fetus. Patients with diabetes who are planning pregnancy or a patient with newly identified gestational diabetes, it is extremely useful to get a CGMS done and get a correct picture of the blood sugar pattern. “It reads the blood sugar of the person every 10 seconds and keeps a record every five minutes so that we can get 288 readings of blood sugar per day during the CGMS study period,” he says.
Endocrinologists also said that the doctors can make out how a particular patient’s blood sugar is changing throughout the day. “There are plenty of patients who have high blood sugar at odd times which is not detected by any routine tests. CGMS results can help the doctors modify the treatment to get better control of blood sugar throughout the day,” Dr SK Wangnoo, senior endocrinologist, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital tells you.
Before and after care
Diabetes pregnancy management
Diabetes mellitus may be effectively managed by appropriate meal planning, increased physical activity and properly-instituted insulin treatment. Some tips for controlling diabetes in pregnancy include: