Posts Tagged gestational diabetes and birth injuries

A new study recently published in Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that researchers are still trying to zero in on specific risk factors for gestational diabetes in order to help prevent this dangerous condition in pregnancies.

Gestational diabetes is a sometimes temporary condition where changes in a woman’s glucose levels can change the outcome of a pregnancy. It’s important for expecting mothers to understand how this potential change in blood sugars, along with another immediate condition called gestational hypertension or high blood pressure, can cause specific dangers to mothers and children.

With gestational diabetes, the baby is not just vulnerable to hypoglycemia and blood sugar conditions, but to some kinds of birth injuries.

What happens is that gestational diabetes can cause a chain of events leading up to birth complications. Gestational diabetes contributes to a tendency for infants to be larger at birth. This means more chance that a baby will get stuck in the womb, unable to pass through the birth canal. These situations can lead to early deliveries. They can also lead to situations like one called shoulder dystocia, a somewhat common birth condition that, if not properly monitored, can result in birth injuries known as brachial plexus injuries. If medical staff are not able to spot risk factors and manage shoulder dystocia, nerve bundles in limbs can be torn from their attachment to the spinal column, which can result in paralytic conditions Erb’s palsy.

A new study by Kaiser Permanente and other partners has found that women who gain more than recommended weights during the first trimester of pregnancy have a higher average risk of gestational diabetes. So how much weight gain is too much?  The Institute of Medicine, a top medical research center and part of the National Academies of Science, provides the following: recommended weight gain of 25 to 35 pounds for “normal weight” women, 15 to 25 pounds for overweight women, and between 11 and 20 pounds for women who are obese (BMI of +30).

When medical staffers understand the risk factors around gestational diabetes, they can plan for a better chance at avoiding birth injuries and ensuring a healthy delivery. Monitoring women for this condition should be a fundamental part of prenatal care, and families should make sure that this is part of the common standard of care in their medical provider network. The kind of research provided here helps create a standard of care where medical providers will monitor women for gestational diabetes or risk liability for resulting birth injuries. For families with a history of this condition, knowing more going into your pregnancy may help prevent some risks.

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