Can you avoid GD?

[mrsraggle]

I have a high BMI and my midwife said my pregnancy would be consultant led and I'd be regularly checked for gestational diabetes.

Can I avoid GD at all? I'd rather avoid it than manage it when/if it's here!

 

[letia659]

technically you cant avoid it but you can alter your diet to a diabetic diet...cut out sugars, cut down your carbs and that might help but just because you have a high BMI doesnt mean you will automatically have it there is a very big chance you wont

 

[pennysbored]

Make sure that with every meal you keep your carbs down, and your protein and fiber up. Also, keep yourself hydrated! And make sure you get exercise.

 

[Tiff]

You can't avoid it. Don't cut out carbs completely, as your body does need them. Just make sure that for every carb you eat, there's a protein in there too. That way the proteins will attach to the carb and make it take longer for your body to digest.

 

[NatalieW]

Make sure that with every meal you keep your carbs down, and your protein and fiber up. Also, keep yourself hydrated! And make sure you get exercise.

This is pretty much it. If your going to get GD you will, nothing you can really do but manage the condition.

 

[Tiff]

Also, GD is caused by hormones given off by the Placenta. So either it gives off the hormones, or it doesn't.

 

[hattiehippo]

Its not automatic that you'll develop it becuase of your BMI. My BMI was 39 at the start of my pregnancy and I had the GTT blood test at 29 weeks automatically to look for GD. My results all come back fine. As others have said it is more luck than anything else although not eating loads of sugary things/too many carbs in one go may help.

 

[WannaB]

You dont have to have a high bmi to get gd. I have a low bmi, classed as underweight, but I have been this size all my life and I eat heaps, its just me! Anyway I was borderline gd, but Im hypoglycemic as well. Just try and eat foods that are as close to how mother nature made them, low gi foods, stay away from all the refined stuff, the simplier the foods the better, they take longer to convert, keeps your blood sugars at a much more stable level. Good luck!

 

[hondagirl]

There is lots of help on the net for which foods to avoid and which are ok, there are also good cook books out there which would help you to avoid meals with a high glyceamic index. I was surprised which stuff is ok and which isnt. I had a high bmi at the start of my pregnancy and my midwife was very much of the 'off to the consultant with you' type, i had a gtt at 14 weeks ( the 3 hr test) and another at 28 weeks, my 28 week results were better than my 14 week ones and neither was anywhere near the levels for GD. Im now back on midwife led care and quite happy that she took the precautions to get me tested, my baby is measuring slightly big and one thing we know it isnt is GD! x