A new study found that about half the cases of gestational diabetes can be avoided if body weight was maintained in the normal range prior to pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that is diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy, also known as the gestation period. Like other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes affects how your cells use sugar (glucose).
Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar that can affect your pregnancy and your baby’s health. Gestational diabetes increases the risk of type 2 diabetes later in life. The study followed almost two million births in Sweden from 2000 to 2020.
Obesity and overweight, indicated by a higher-than-30 body mass index, have been studied to have adverse pregnancy outcomes. For the study, researchers at Linkoping University, Sweden, estimated the extent to which pregnancy complications could be averted if women had normal weight before conceiving. Maryam Shirvanifar, a PhD student at Linkoping University and first author of the study published in The Lancet Public Health journal, said, “For example, we concluded that about half of all cases of gestational diabetes could potentially be prevented.
This applies to both women born in Sweden and foreign-born women.” The researchers found that over a quarter of pre-eclampsia cases could be avoided if a healthy weight is maintained prior to pregnancy. The condition involves high blood pressure and can be accompanied by severe headaches, vision problems suc.
