For women with diabetes mellitus, pregnancy can present some particular challenges for both mother and child. If the woman who is pregnant has diabetes or develops diabetes during pregnancy, it can cause early labor, birth defects, and very large babies. For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, see diabetes insipidus. ... A pregnant woman near the end of her term Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. ... A congenital disorder is a medical condition or defect that is present at or before birth (for example, congenital heart disease). ...

Physiology

During a normal pregnancy, a lot of physiological changes occur that influence blood glucose levels, such as a glucose-'drain' to the fetus, slowed emptying of the stomach, increased excretion of glucose by the kidneys and resistance of cells to insulin. Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... Glucose (Glc), a monosaccharide (or simple sugar), is the most important carbohydrate in biology. ... A human fetus A fetus (or foetus, or fœtus – see below) is a developing mammal after the embryonic stage and before birth. ... In anatomy, the stomach (in ancient Greek στόμαχος) is an organ of the gastrointestinal tract involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication. ... The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... Drawing of the structure of cork as it appeared under the microscope to Robert Hooke from Micrographia which is the origin of the word cell. Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green). ... Insulin (from Latin insula, island, as it is produced in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas) is a polypeptide hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism. ...

Risks for the child

Miscarriage, growth restriction, growth acceleration, fetal obesity (macrosomia), polyhydramnios. Birth defects are not currently an identified risk for the child of women with gestational diabetes. Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or the fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined at a gestation of prior to 20 weeks. ... Macrosomia, sometimes also called big baby syndrome, is a potential complication during childbirth and the latter stages of pregnancy. ... The amniotic sac is a tough but thin transparent pair of membranes which holds a developing embryo (and later fetus) until shortly before birth. ...

Risks for the mother

Disturbed blood glucose levels. Hypoglycaemia can occur without warning.

Treatment of pregnant women with diabetes

Blood glucose levels in the pregnant woman should be regulated as strictly as possible. In diabetes mellitus type 2, oral antidiabetic drugs should be replaced with insulin. See diabetes mellitus for further general information on diabetes. ... An anti-diabetic drug is used to treat diabetes mellitus. ... Insulin (from Latin insula, island, as it is produced in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas) is a polypeptide hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism. ...

See also

• Diabetes mellitus
• Gestational diabetes
• Pregnancy

For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, see diabetes insipidus. ... Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes found in pregnant women. ... A pregnant woman near the end of her term Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. ...

External Links

• CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

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