As of right now, my diabetes is being controlled through diet and I do not need insulin. I am due at the end of January and having a scheduled C-section. I have read that the baby may need to be in the NICU after delivery to check blood sugars and there could be a greater risk of jaundice. What should I expect post delivery?
Tags: Anyone, Baby, Complications, Diabetes, Gestational, Have, Their, With
Diet controlled GD essentially carries the same risk as a normal pregnancy without GD.
The research does NOT support scheduled c-section or early induction for GD. There is no evidence to prove that these practices improve outcomes.
Your baby should be observed in your room for any signs of hypoglycemia, which is the greatest concern with uncontrolled GD. A heel stick might be performed to check sugar levels.
The best way to prevent newborn hypoglycemia is to breastfeed immediately to stabilize the blood sugars. If nutrition is delayed, then in effect, the hospital staff is making the baby hypoglycemic, not the GD.
You should expect a routine heel stick or two after delivery but in general few complications arise from diet-controlled GD.
The most common problem of gestational diabetes is a big baby. The second most common problem is that baby has a hard time with blood sugars just as you described above. If you have well controlled your blood sugar, then it is unlikely your baby will have to go to the NICU because baby hasn’t been receiving excessive sugars via the placenta. I agree with the poster above that sometimes the staff creates more of a problem. Breastfeeding the baby is likely all that it needs.
There are some complications to moms, but ordinarily, that would be a mom that had diabetes prior to pregnancy OR someone with uncontrolled sugar.
If you are maintaining healthy blood sugars (under 140 is what I think they recommend) your chances of complications are greatly reduced. It is vitally important to maintain a VERY tight control on those sugars, both for you and your baby! They may take the baby to NICU for a little while, even if you’ve been maintaining a tight control. Don’t be upset by this. They just want to monitor the baby for any possible complications. In many cases they will only be there up to 24 hrs. The reason why is that your baby may have a harder time than most keeping their blood sugar up. Some facilities can do this in the Newborn nursery or in the room with you. Talk to your OB and the labor and delivery team (a good time is during the hospital tour) to see what is standard practice in their facility. Finally, I cannot stress enough how important it is to check your blood sugar regularly and keep it under control. Sugary blood gets thick and thick blood has a hard time getting to your baby and the rest of your organs. Good blood sugar = good outcomes! Hope all goes well for you!