Types Of High Risk Pregnancy

Posted on February 5, 2008
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Althought your pregnancy won’t be considered high risk just because you are over 35, your age does mean that you might be more likely to have or to develop a problem that results in extra monitoring, tests or treatment. Some conditions develop during your pregnancy, others conditions, such as high blood pressure, make your pregnancy high risk from the start.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a disorder of sugar (glucose) regulation that occurs specifically in pregnancy. It means that your body’s ability to regulate your sugar levels is not up to the strain of pregnancy.

Normally, sugar levels are regulated by a balance between two hormones insulin (produced in your pancreas) and glucagon (made by your liver). Insulin is released when your blood sugar levels rise after eating, allowing your body to remove excess sugar from your bloodstream. Glucagon is released when your blood sugar levels are low, triggering a rise in your blood sugar levels.

Diabetes And Labor

Women with gestational diabetes requiring treatment are at increased risk of having a large baby the risk depends partly on how well blood sugars are controlled during your pregnancy. If you have diabetes, your doctor will usually estimate your baby’s birth weight before you go into labor, either by feeling your baby through the uterus or using ultrasound. If your baby is normal size, your physician may induce labor at 39 weeks because of the increased risk of fetal complications in prolonged pregnancy in women with diabetes. During labor you will need to have an IV and your blood sugars will be carefully monitored every hour or two. If your baby weighs more than 9-9½1b (4 to 4.5kg) there is a risk that the shoulders may get stuck (known as shoulder dystocia), which increases the chance of a birth injury or other serious complications. Your physician will talk to you about this risk and may offer you a cesarean delivery.

Type Of Diabetes

In gestational diabetes, your body either fails to produce enough insulin to cope with the strain of pregnancy or your body’s cells are resistant to insulin’s action. This is similar to type 2 diabetes (sometimes called adult onset diabetes). Type 1 diabetes, which usually begins in childhood or adolescence is different in that the pancreas doesn’t make any insulin. During pregnancy, your placenta produces a hormone called human placental lactogen (HPL), which makes your blood sugar levels rise. As a result of this, your body has to produce more insulin to maintain normal sugar levels. Gestational diabetes will disappear after your pregnancy is over, but you are much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later.

How Is It Diagnosed?

Gestational diabetes is initially detected in the third trimester of pregnancy by a one-hour glucose test a screening test to identify women at a higher risk of sugar problems. Women who are found to be at risk then haw diagnostic test called a glucose tolerance test to determine whether or not they have gestational diabetes. This test is very similar to the one-hour test, but you have to get your blood drawn four times instead of just


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