Gestational Diabetes Symptoms

Feeling ill, being very thirsty, and frequently getting infections are common symptoms of gestational diabetes. These signs and symptoms may lead to an extra-large baby, high blood pressure, and premature delivery. Left untreated, symptoms of this condition can lead to health problems for the baby, such as a preterm birth, low birth weight, or being born with extra fat (possibly complicating delivery).

 

Gestational Diabetes Signs and Symptoms: An Overview

Often, women with gestational diabetes have no gestational diabetes symptoms. Gestational diabetes is serious, even if there are no gestational diabetes symptoms. Taking care of yourself helps keep you and your baby healthy.
 

Common Symptoms

If a woman does have symptoms, they can include:
 
  • Feeling ill or very tired
  • Being very thirsty
  • Frequent urination, especially at night
  • Weight loss when you are not trying
  • Blurred vision
  • Frequent infections.
     

How Do These Symptoms Affect the Mother?

In the mother, symptoms of gestational diabetes may lead to:
 
 
The extra-large baby might cause the woman to feel uncomfortable during the last months of pregnancy. Also, it could lead to problems for both the woman and the baby during delivery.
 
When the baby is delivered surgically by a cesarean section (C-section), it takes longer for the woman to recover from childbirth. High blood pressure when a woman is pregnant might lead to an early delivery and could cause seizures or a stroke in the woman.
 
Sometimes, gestational diabetes does not go away after delivery. These women have converted to type 2 diabetes. A woman whose diabetes does not go away after delivery will need to manage her diabetes for the rest of her life.
 
(Gestational Diabetes Symptoms Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD