Pregnancy Diabetes in Spain

This article was written by Sarah Scrafford for Nueva Andalucia Life.

We hope you find it useful.

Pregnancy and Diabetes – How to Protect Yourself and Your Baby

Life is not easy when you’re a diabetic or even if you’re prone to this disease because of hereditary reasons. You need to maintain strict control over your diet, ensure that your blood sugar levels stay within the allowed range and don’t fluctuate wildly, and follow a systematic and regular exercise routine that will keep your weight down. You also need to get your eyes, kidneys and liver tested on a regular basis to ensure that there are no untoward problems. In short, life with diabetes is a test in control – you are as healthy as you want to be.

It’s not easy for diabetic women to conceive because their periods may be irregular and they may have other associated problems. And when you do conceive, you must be twice as careful throughout the course of your pregnancy. Fortunately, the advances in medicine and technology have made this disease manageable when you’re pregnant, unlike a few decades ago when it was a curse that could result in an abortion, a child with congenital malformations or other complications.

Today, if you’re a diabetic and are planning a pregnancy or find yourself testing positive, here’s what you need to do to ensure that you’re healthy and that your child is born without any complications and difficulties:

• Monitor your blood sugar levels regularly, once or twice a day, and ensure that they’re within accepted levels.
• Take your medication and/or insulin injections as directed by your doctor.
• Eat food that does not make your blood sugar level swing wildly.
• Adopt an exercise routine after consultations with your medical practitioner that will keep you healthy and safe throughout the pregnancy. Walking and swimming are generally considered safe activities when you’re pregnant.
• Undergo regular ultrasounds to ensure that your child is developing as it should.
• Quit smoking and drinking.
• Get yourself tested regularly because you may need to change medication and insulin amounts according to the hormonal changes your body goes through at each stage of the pregnancy.
• Supplement your diet with prenatal vitamins that contain folic acid. This prevents your baby from being born with deformities.

Glucose Testing

Even if you’re not a diabetic, you could develop gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) once you conceive. If you’re at risk because of genetic and lifestyle factors, if you faced complications in an earlier pregnancy or suffered a miscarriage, it’s best to get yourself tested during the early stages so that you can manage the disease properly.

If you’re careless, you’re at the risk of:

• Miscarrying or giving birth to a stillborn.
• Giving birth to a baby with congenital malformations.
• Giving birth to a large baby because of the extra insulin that’s formed by its pancreas when your excess blood sugar goes to the baby through the placenta.
• Giving birth to a baby that’s hypoglycemic because of high insulin production.
• Developing high blood pressure that could lead to more serious complications like preeclampsia.
• Developing complications in the eye, liver and kidney.

Worry is something that’s best left at the door when you’re pregnant; so ensure yourself a safe and healthy pregnancy by sticking to a good diet, a regular exercise routine and by following your doctor’s orders to the letter when you’re a diabetic.

By-line:
This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of career in radiography. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: [email protected]