July 8, 2003
Gestational Diabetes
Question from Springfield, Ohio, USA:
Question My 42 year old wife, who has recently completed treatment for active TB, is 30 weeks pregnant, and yesterday she learned that she has gestational diabetes. The local hospital called to say that we should come in for counseling, and I believe the session is scheduled for next week. However, this morning I’m reading about the topic and a couple of websites suggest that consultation and management should begin within 24- 48 hours of the diagnosis. I’m concerned that even waiting a week is an unhealthy risk for my wife and child. I have a call into the hospital to ask about getting in to see the dietitian sooner (like this week) since I’m a little anxious about the situation. Can you offer any advice?
Is it okay to wait a week following diagnosis to see a dietitian and begin management?
Is there anything we could begin doing now in our ignorance that might at least somehow help the situation?
If it’s not okay to wait, just tell me that so I can press my case with our OB-GYN if the hospital doesn’t call back (doctor’s office said to talk with hospital again first!)
I’ve found plenty of websites with information about gestational diabetes but none that offer good diet information or other information about management of the condition. Can you recommend one or more that I can view?
Answer:
Waiting a few days to start the management of gestational diabetesis not going to make a big difference in the outcome. What is important is her care over the rest of the pregnancy. If all she needs is diet control, then the pregnancy is managed the same as someone without gestational diabetes in terms of fetal surveillance and timing of delivery. The key points are maintaining good diet and watching for elevated blood glucose. The main problems you can run into are excess fetal growth and neonatal hypoglycemia (low blood sugar in the newborn). However both of these problems are manageable.
OWJ
