What Can be the Consequences of Not Treating Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is a very important factor for the health of the mother and baby because there are definitely risks. The first thing to note of course is that when someone has diabetes, they have high blood sugar. The high blood sugar passes across the placenta. When the baby receives high sugar levels, it has the capacity to increase its insulin levels. When fetal insulin levels increase, blood glucose will return to normal. Because the fetus can have high insulin levels it is prone to larger fluctuations in its blood sugars especially at night, which of course we would want to avoid.

High levels of insulin levels may send another signal to the baby’s brain to release growth hormone. Consequently the baby will now begin to grow at a faster speed. The primary problem however is not just that the baby grows faster than it should. A number of other important things are happening as well. The placenta grows larger as does the amniotic fluid around the baby. As a result of these and other changes the pregnancy is subject to a number of potential complications.