Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a form of diabetes that affects pregnant women who have never had diabetes before. There is no known specific cause, but it's believed that the hormones produced during pregnancy reduce a woman's receptivity to insulin resulting in high blood sugar.
Types
There are 2 types of gestational diabetes (diabetes which began during pregnancy):
Type A1: diet modification is sufficient to control glucose levels
Type A2: insulin or other medications are required
Additionally, it is useful to classify different forms of diabetes during pregnancy which existed prior to pregnancy:
Type B: onset at age 20 or older or with duration of less than 10 years
Type C: onset at age 10-19 or duration of 1-19 years
Type D: onset before age 10 or duration greater than 20 years
Type F: diabetic nephropathy
Type R: diabetic retinopathy
Type H: diabetes with ischemic heart disease
Type T: diabetes requiring kidney transplant
Risk factors
Risk factors for gestational diabetes include:
a family history of type 2 diabetes
maternal age - a woman's risk factor increases the older she is
ethnic background (those with higher risk factors include African-Americans, North American native peoples and Hispanics)
obesity
gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy
a previous pregnancy that resulted in a child with a birth weight of 9 pounds or more
if you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, or impared fasting glucose
smoking doubles the risk of gestational diabetes.