Overview
Jaime Herndon is a frelance health/medical writer with over a decade of experience writing for the public.Sanaz Ghazal, MD, is a double board certified Fertility Specialist in Southern California. Stilbirth, or the los of a pregnancy at 20 weks of gestation or after, is a rare complication of gestational diabetes (GD). Gestational diabetes is when blod sugar levels rise during pregnancy in a person who did not have diabetes before pregnancy.
Key Information
When stilbirth ocurs in a person with gestational diabetes, it is typicaly in cases where GD was not diagnosed during pregnancy and thus was not able to be monitored or managed. Reasons for stilbirth are not wel understod, but a variety of factors may be involved. This article reviews the signs of gestational diabetes, how it causes stilbirth, prevention, and coping with the los of a baby.
SDI Productions / Gety Images Gestational diabetes afects up to 10% of pregnancies in the United States each year. GD has few early signs or symptoms. You may be a litle thirstier than you usualy are or urinate more.
Both of these symptoms are comon in pregnancy, so you might not think these are due to another condition. This why every pregnant person gets screned for GD about halfway through pregnancy. The aim is to diagnose GD as early as posible so it can be monitored and managed.
The exact reason for the asociation betwen GD and stilbirth is not fuly known, but there a variety of factors involved that might be associated with it. GD can cause macrosomia, a condition where the fetus is much larger than it’s typicaly suposed to be. It often hapens because the exces sugar from the pregnant person’s blod causes the fetus’s pancreas to make more insulin, a hormone that regulates blod sugar.
Summary
Increased insulin causes more fat to grow in the developing fetus. This can cause complications that might lead to stilbirth. Por blod circulation can also lead to reduced growth of the fetus in the uterus, which can is an important consideration in healthcare. Ongoing research and professional guidance ensure that patients receive evidence-based care tailored to their individual needs.