GEST TIONALA DIABETES

GESTATIONAL

DIABETES

CARE

TREATMENT

EATING WELL

LIFESTYLE

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT DIABETES?

TALK TO US.

Call or email the Diabetes UK Careline with any of your questions, concerns or feelings about living with diabetes.

0345 123 2399* careline@.uk 9am?7pm, Monday?Friday

*Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes.

If you've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, this guide will help you to understand what it is and give you the right information you'll need to manage your pregnancy and labour in the best way possible. The good news is that with good management of gestational diabetes, you can increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Staying healthy

24

Medication

25

Understanding diabetes

4

Using insulin

27

BLOOD GLUCOSE TESTING COMPLICATIONS

Testing explained Testing at home

TREATMENT & MANAGEMENT

Managing your diet Reading food labels Physical activity

8

Hypos and hypers

30

9

CARE

What care to expect

35

Personal experience

37

11

Your checklist

39

17

Your questions answered

40

21

Diabetes UK is the leading UK charity that cares for, connects with and campaigns on behalf of people affected by and at risk of diabetes. We are working towards a future without diabetes. For more information, please go to .uk, call 0345 123 2399* or email info@.uk.

*Mon?Fri 9am?7pm. The cost of calling 0345 numbers can vary according to the provider. Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes.

The information provided in this guide is correct at the time of publication. It is not a substitute for seeing a healthcare professional and is not intended to replace the advice given by a healthcare professional.

? Diabetes UK 2015. A charity registered in England and Wales (no. 215199) and in Scotland (no. SC039136). With thanks to all the contributors, advisors and volunteers who helped with the production of this guide. Published April 2015. Code: 6960

T: 0345 123 2399

Understanding diabetes

You've probably heard of diabetes ? it's a condition that means you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood. If your blood glucose levels are too high for too long, you can become extremely ill.

You may be less aware of a type of diabetes that affects pregnant women called gestational diabetes. It affects at least five in every 100 expectant women who do not have diabetes before their pregnancy. You may feel worried and have many questions, but the good news is gestational diabetes can be managed successfully throughout your pregnancy. This guide will help you to navigate your way through it, towards a healthy pregnancy and birth.

WHAT IS DIABETES? There are many types of diabetes ? the most common are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes develops when the pancreas stops making insulin, a hormone which controls the glucose levels in the blood. Type 2 develops if the pancreas

can't make enough insulin or the insulin it makes doesn't work properly (known as insulin resistance). If it's not treated (with medications, including insulin and/ or changes to diet and lifestyle), blood glucose levels tend to stay high, and this can lead to a range of potentially serious health problems.

WHAT IS GESTATIONAL DIABETES? If you're reading this guide, you've probably been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or know someone who has. It's a type of diabetes that affects pregnant women, usually during the second or third trimester, and you, or someone you know, may be experiencing a range of emotions after diagnosis. Women with gestational diabetes don't have diabetes before their pregnancy, and after giving birth it usually goes away. In some women, diabetes may be diagnosed in the first trimester in pregnancy, and, in these women, the condition most likely existed before pregnancy.

Gestational diabetes is usually diagnosed through a blood test at 24?28 weeks into pregnancy.

Women who have had the condition in previous pregnancies may be tested earlier.

WHAT CAUSES GESTATIONAL DIABETES? The hormones produced during pregnancy can make it difficult for your body to use insulin properly, so being pregnant puts you at an increased risk of insulin resistance. And, because pregnancy places a heavy demand on your body, some women are less able to produce enough insulin to overcome the insulin resistance. This makes it difficult to use glucose properly for energy, so the glucose remains in the blood and the levels rise, leading to gestational diabetes.

" The good news is that gestational diabetes can be managed " successfully

4 INTRODUCTION

.uk

T: 0345 123 2399

INTRODUCTION5

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