It can be the happiest time of a woman’s life—but doctors say that joy can be overshadowed by a common medical condition. “It’s very common, unfortunately. As a society we are getting sicker, we are getting obese, and diabetes is on the rise,” said Dr. Ravi Chokshi, an OB/GYN with Lee Health.
Diabetes becomes even more concerning when it’s developed during pregnancy. “There are two types of diabetes during pregnancy that we worry about. One is you’re a diabetic before you became pregnant, and that is a very serious problem that we try to get control of. The other is you’re not a diabetic. You had normal blood testing before. What happens in pregnancy is the placenta that the baby relies on releases hormones that increase your blood sugar,” said Dr. Chokshi.
If the mother becomes diabetic during pregnancy, both the mother and baby are at risk for health concerns. “It actually affects the development of the baby, and it can cause heart defects and brain defects if the sugars aren’t brought under control quickly,” he said.
These concerns are why doctors are screening women for diabetes throughout their pregnancy. “We are actually instituting a policy where almost every patient is going to get some blood sugar test at the start of pregnancy to make sure we’re not missing diabetics who didn’t know they were diabetic,” said Dr. Chokshi.
If a woman is diabetic or becomes diabetic during pregnancy, doctors will help them with diet and medication, if necessary to get their blood sugar under control. “If you have diabetes during pregnancy and we don’t treat it adequately, you’re at a two to three time increased the risk for C-section; you’re at a three to four time increased risk for birth injury,” he explained.
The goal is to catch diabetes early during pregnancy to prevent health concerns for both the mother and baby—both during and after delivery.
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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health – Caring People. Inspiring Care.
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Dr. Beena Bansal talks about pregnancy in diabetic patients.
