It is fairly easy to understand what causes diabetes in pregnancy to develop at a higher rate in women. It all boils down to glucose. Glucose is the body’s main nourishment, developing as the result of digesting food. Since we all digest food, we all produce glucose. When pregnant, the mother’s body must also provide glucose to supply the baby’s needs. The glucose is passed from the mother to the baby through the wall of the placenta. This is the baby’s sole source of nourishment.
The placenta makes hormones to aid the development of the fetus, but these same essential hormones also make it more difficult for the mother’s body to use up the insulin. After about 19 or 20 weeks, the placenta starts producing a lot more of these hormones that are “anti-insulin”, and is the beginning of what causes pregnancy diabetes.
If too many of these anti-insulin hormones are present, it is partly what causes diabetes in pregnancy. These hormones block the movement of glucose from your blood to the cells of the body. And the pancreas may not be able to make enough insulin to keep up, so the glucose levels get higher and higher. This is what causes diabetes in pregnancy, and if you think about it, actually is the definition of diabetes itself.
What Causes Gestational Diabetes during Pregnancy
It is not precisely known what causes diabetes in pregnancy, or gestational diabetes. There is a train of thought that asserts it is a natural process and to some extent, at least somewhat expected. Insulin resistance is a normal occurrence in the second trimester of pregnancy. The degree of this resistance is where the distinction lies between normal and being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The hallmark of gestational diabetes is insulin resistance and the insulin resistance is what causes gestational diabetes in pregnancy. But the mechanism of what causes diabetes in pregnancy is still just hypothesis. It is a fact that it occurs, it’s just that the exact reason is not known.
It is Important to Control, Even If What Causes Diabetes during Pregnancy Is Not Fully Understood
Left uncontrolled, gestational diabetes will increase the glucose levels in the fetus. Because the glucose travels through and across the placenta, the fetus is exposed to much higher than normal glucose levels. This increases the fetus’ insulin level as well. Insulin is a growth stimulator so the baby may grow to abnormal size, known as macrosomia. After being born, the high glucose in the baby goes away quickly and the baby keeps producing too much insulin. This leads to low glucose levels for the baby, or hypoglycemia.
So even if you don’t know what causes diabetes in pregnancy, you need to be screened, and if found to have developed gestational diabetes you’ll need to control it without delay. Your baby doesn’t have much time, and it can affect your health for a lifetime.
