Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes affects 3-10% of pregnancies, depending on the population studied.


Pregnant women with GDM have increased risk for pre-term delivery, miscarriage, intrauterine death, eclampsia, polyhydroamnion etc. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of complications, primarily growth abnormalities and chemical imbalances such as low blood sugar. Infants born to mothers with GDM are at risk of being both large for gestational age (macrosomic) and small for gestational age. Neonates are also at an increased risk of low blood glucose (hypoglycemia), jaundice, high red blood cell mass (polycythemia) and low blood calcium (hypocalcemia) and magnesium (hypomagnesemia). GDM also affects the maturation, causing dysmature babies prone to respiratory distress syndrome due to incomplete lung maturation and impaired surfactant synthesis in the lungs. Birth defects are more common in pregnant women who already had diabetes than in women who developed diabetes during the pregnancy.


Gestational diabetes is a reversible condition and women who have adequate control of glucose levels can effectively decrease the associated risks and give birth to healthy babies. Diet and antidiabetic medicines (some oral antidiabetics and insulin) are used to treat GDM.


For now, there aren’t any indications to induce pre-term delivery so, the least you can do is to wait for another week for the fetal lungs to mature more.