Gestational Diabetes
How gestational diabetes differs from type I and II diabetes
Gestational diabetes is impaired glucose tolerance during pregnancy. For 95 percent of women, diabetes will disappear immediately after giving birth.
“Pregnancy is a stress test for diabetes,” says Feig. The hormonal changes make it difficult for insulin to work at an optimal level. “If women have a [preexisting] defect in insulin metabolism, it will be more pronounced during pregnancy,” says Feig.
As far as treatment and risks, gestational diabetes is basically the same as Type II diabetes. The only difference is that because Type I and Type II diabetes are present in early pregnancy, there are additional risk factors, such as increased risk of stillbirth and congenital anomalies that don’t exist with gestational diabetes.
