preeclampsia, a baby with a high birth weight, a preterm birth, or a stillbirth.
Once the baby is born, your doctor will continue to monitor you to ensure that your blood sugar levels return to normal. That’s because gestational diabetes increases your risk of being diagnosed with diabetes at a later stage in life as well as making you more prone to being overweight. Your baby will also need to be assessed for any signs of developing diabetes.
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Questions To Ask Your Doctor
The first thing you should ask your doctor is what your risk is for gestational diabetes depending on your medical history. You should then ask about the details of screening and what happens if you’re diagnosed with the condition. It will be important to know how often you’ll see the doctor for testing.
Since you’ll need to test yourself regularly, it’s best to ask your doctor for equipment recommendations as well as instructions for testing. You should ask them if there are other specialists you need to see and what lifestyle changes you need to make.
Finally, you should ask your doctor how gestational diabetes may affect your baby and what tests they’ll do to check if they’re happening. Since the complications can extend after childbirth, you should ask what that will look like as well.
Gestational diabetes can affect up to 10 percent of pregnant people. Studies show that the outcome of this condition can be more dire for Black Americans because of insufficient screening and late diagnoses. To stay healthy, it’s best to talk to your doctor as soon as possible about your risk of developing gestational diabetes and how to manage it.