what is gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes£¨GDM£© is a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy. If you have diabetes, your body isn't able to use the sugar (glucose) in your blood as well as it should, so the level of sugar in your blood becomes higher than normal.

Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women. It usually begins in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy (between the 24th and 28th weeks). Most often, gestational diabetes goes away after the baby is born.

Risk factors for developing this condition include:

•  a previous diagnosis of GDM

•  age over 35 years

•  obesity

•  a history of polycystic ovary syndrome

•  hirsutism (excessive body and facial hair)

•  acanthosis nigricans (a skin disorder characterized by the appearance of darkened patches of skin)

•  being a member of a population considered to be at high risk for diabetes, including women of Aboriginal, Hispanic, South Asian, Asian or African descent.