Various Tests for Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is found in almost 4% of the pregnant women. Though in most of the women it goes off with time after the child birth but few remain at the risk zone to have onset of diabetes in future. If untreated or not treated properly gestational diabetes can cause serious health hazards to the mother and the child during the birth and after the birth. There is no possible cause of the gestational diabetes but some of the risk factors are there which need to be known properly to avoid this situation. During pregnancy, gestational diabetes is found in between the 20th-25th week. Insulin is the hormone which is produced from pancreas and is responsible for absorption of the sugar into the cells. The food item that is eaten is broken down into sugar during the process of digestion. During pregnancy, many hormones are created in the body which inhibits the working of insulin thus keeping the blood sugar level high. Only by performing the gestational diabetes tests the confirmation is done.

The routine gestational diabetes tests are-

1. Initial glucose challenge test – A blood test is performed after one hour of having a syrupy glucose solution.
2. Follow up glucose tolerance tests - The woman need to fast overnight and get the fasting sugar measured. Then syrup is taken and blood sugar level is checked.

In case the pregnant woman is diagnosed with gestational diabetes then few more gestational diabetes tests are to be performed and frequent checkups are needed especially the last trimester. It is very important to monitor the blood sugar level. Some tests are to be performed to check whether the baby growth is proper or not in case the mother’s blood sugar level is not getting managed, mother has to take insulin injection or any other pregnancy complication has arrived. These tests aim at checking the working of the placenta. Placenta is the tube which connects the baby to the mother and in case the gestational diabetes cannot be controlled then the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the baby becomes a problem. The tests to be performed are-

1. Non-stress test- the heart beat of the baby is checked
2. Biophysical profile- This test is done to check the heartbeat, breathing, movement and to check whether there is required amount of amniotic fluid or not.

The blood sugar tests should be done regularly after the child birth to check whether the blood sugar level of the mother is normal.