Risk Factors of Gestational Diabetes

Pregnancy brings about many obvious changes to a woman’s physical appearance but there are also many potential changes that are not so obvious, such as gestational diabetes.

If you did not previously have diabetes before becoming pregnant you may not be aware that you have gestational diabetes, since it rarely causes any symptoms. But there are some risk factors that your doctor will be looking for. And the more informed you are about these risks, the more vigilant you can be in monitoring yourself throughout your pregnancy.

The risk for gestational diabetes rises if you are overweight before becoming pregnant. If you are carrying 20% more weight than what you should be, you could be at risk.

Several ethnic groups tend to develop gestational diabetes more often than others, if you are Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Black, these tend to be groups, which are at higher risk.

After taking the glucose tolerance test and finding that your levels are high but not high enough to be diabetic, does put you in a higher risk category than someone whose test came back in the normal range.

If you had gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy, if you have too much amniotic fluid, if your baby weighed over 9 pounds or if you gave birth to a stillborn baby, your OB will definitely be more concerned and will monitor you even closer throughout your pregnancy.

These are certainly only risk factors but knowing where you stand in terms of the risk, will allow you to be carefully monitored and if you do develop gestational diabetes your doctor will be on top of your care.  It is important to remember that many women who do not have any known risk factors can still develop gestational diabetes.

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