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Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery & Maternity 166 9th Cross Indiranagar 1st Stage Bangalore 38 Tel: 2525 1573/2525 1139 Fax: 2520 0447 |
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All your pregnancy questions answered
During your pregnancy
You could use your local lab to check your sugars but it is far more convenient to buy and learn how to use a glucometer. It costs now less than Rs:2000/- and is well worth the cost as well as the effort. Check as often as you are advised and then maintain a record accurately.
Oral medication is not allowed in pregnancy so you will need to take insulin injections. If you are already on insulin then your requirements will go up as pregnancy advance. The need for more insulin is caused by hormones the placenta makes. The placenta makes hormones that help the baby grow. At the same time, these hormones block the action of the mother's insulin. As a result, your insulin needs will increase. If you have type 2 diabetes, you too need to plan ahead. If you are taking diabetes pills to control your blood glucose, you may not be able to take them when you are pregnant. Because the safety of using diabetes pills during pregnancy has not been established, your doctor will probably have you switch to insulin right away.
During pregnancy you and your dietitian or doctor may need to change your meal plan to avoid problems with low and high blood glucose levels. This is the most important reason for keeping track of your blood glucose results. If you start pregnancy weighing too much, you should not try to lose weight. Instead work with your dietitian or doctor to curb how much weight you gain during pregnancy. Your dietitian will keep track of your weight gain. If you start pregnancy at a normal weight, expect to add between 25 to 35 pounds. Women who start pregnancy too thin need to gain more. If you are obese at the start of your pregnancy, work with your dietitian to limit your weight gain to about 15-25 pounds.
You should avoid eating foods that contain a lot of
simple sugar, such as cake, cookies, candy or ice cream. Instead, eat foods that
contain natural sugars, like fruits. If you get hungry between meals, eat foods
that are healthy for you, such as raisins, carrot sticks, or a piece of fruit.
It is never a good idea to start a very vigorous exercise plan in pregnancy, however exercise such as walking and swimming could help reduce your requirement of insulin. Discuss this with your gynaecologist. If you're not used to exercising, begin by exercising for 5 or 10 minutes every day. As you get stronger, you can increase your exercise time to 30 minutes or more per session. The longer you exercise and the more often you exercise, the better the control of your blood sugar will be. You should not however allow your pulse to go above about 130.
You will need the baby to be monitored with ultrasounds as well as non stress tests. This is because babies of diabetic mothers are know to have sudden problems towards the end of pregnancy. You should also keep a very close track of fetal movements as a reduction in movements is a very important indicator that your baby is having a problem. Report any reduction in movements to your doctor immediately.
Your labor may start on its own, or you may decide to have labor induced or have a planned cesarean section (C-section). No matter how you deliver your baby, your doctors will be working during labor and delivery to keep your blood glucose level under control. At the start of active labor, your insulin needs will drop.
After your delivery your requirement for insulin drops drastically and if you are a gestational diabetic you may not even need insulin after 24-72 hour. Breast feeding is good but may lead to swings of sugar levels. To help prevent low blood glucose levels due to breastfeeding you could have a snack before or during nursing keep something to treat low blood glucose nearby when you nurse, so you don't have to stop a feeding to treat low blood glucose levels
Even if your sugars return to normal after your delivery you will be at an increased risk of developing diabetes later in your life so you must monitor your sugars an a yearly basis, keep up your exercise and continue to eat healthy.
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