Worried about Gestational Diabetes?
Top tips for dealing with GD
It’s natural to feel concerned if you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes or have been told you are at risk. But gestational diabetes is fairly common and affects around 18% of pregnancies. There are some things that can increase your risk of developing gestational diabetes, but any pregnant woman can develop it.
Gestational Diabetes risk factors include:
- having gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy
- you had a large baby (weighing 4.5kg/10lbs or more) in a previous pregnancy
- your BMI is in the obese category (above 30)
- you have a parent, brother, sister or child with diabetes
- you are of black Caribbean, black African, South Asian or Middle Eastern origin
- your have polycystic ovary syndrome
Your midwife will discuss these risk factors with you at your booking appointment, and if any apply to you will be offered a test for gestational diabetes when you’re between 24 and 28 weeks pregnant.
Some women feel anxious about the potential complications or the long-term impact of gestational diabetes. Others feel worried about the diagnosis affecting their birth plan. Try to remember that most women who develop gestational diabetes have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies if their condition is diagnosed and carefully managed and treated.
How to help yourself:
There are medical treatments that can help with gestational diabetes, however, some women are able to manage it by eating a healthy, balanced diet, staying active and maintaining a healthy weight.
Making changes to your diet and lifestyle will help you manage your glucose levels and your weight, which will reduce the risk of pregnancy complications. There is a lot of information out there about eating well but try not to get overwhelmed. Often a few simple changes can go a long way:
1. Choose low glycaemic index foods over high glycaemic foods
Glycaemic index is a rating system for how quickly carbohydrate foods affect your glucose levels.
High GI foods raise your blood sugar levels quickly, which is not good for anyone least of all if you have gestational diabetes. These foods include:
- sugary drinks and confectionary
- breakfast cereals
- fruit juices
- white bread
- potatoes
- white rice /pasta
If you have gestational diabetes, low of medium GI foods are better for you because they raise your glucose levels more slowly. These include:
- certain fruits: berries, apples, cherries, grapefruit, dried apricots, pears, oranges, plums, peaches, grapes (include no more than 2 portions per day)
- vegetables (aim for at least five plus portions per day)
- pulses such as chickpeas or lentils
- wholegrain foods, such as porridge oats
2. Eat regularly
It’s a common mistake made that skipping meals is an easy way to lose weight, but this actually puts the body in a stress response leading to higher blood glucose levels, and the body storing excess glucose as fat. Eat 3 regular meals per day, with a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack containing protein and low GI carbohydrates.
An example meal plan for the day:
Breakfast: Overnight oats with chia, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds and nuts, full fat greek yoghurt, berries and 2 dried apricots.
Snack (if needed): A handful of unroasted and unsalted nuts, piece of low GI fruit
Lunch: Roast vegetables including sweet potato (skin on) with salad and tinned sardines
Snack (if needed): Vegetable crudité with humous
Dinner: Lentil chilli with vegetables
2. Watch your portion sizes
Pregnant women, especially those at risk for gestational diabetes, are not encouraged to eat for two. You do not need to eat any extra food in the first and second trimester of pregnancy. In the third trimester, you may need around 200 extra calories per day, which is around half a sandwich.
Diabetes UK has more information about how to get your portion sizes correct. HYPERLINK
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/portion-sizes
3. Watch what you are drinking
Often women will start adding more fresh juice to their diet in pregnancy thinking that this is a healthy choice to get more vitamins and minerals into their diet. Unfortunately many fruit juices, fresh or otherwise, are loaded with sugar. Some contain more than a can of coke!
If you are craving fresh juice you are best choice it making your own using vegetables and just 2 portions of low GI fruits. Combine with water, as opposed to coconut water or milks which can be high GI, and add in a portion of protein to slow down the release of sugar into the blood stream.
Choosing water and herbal teas is the best way of ensuring you stay well hydrated and keep blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day.
4. Keep active
Try to do 30 minutes of movement every day, this can include walking or a pregnancy friendly activity such as pilates or yoga.
We hope you found this article helpful and wish you all the best with your pregnancy. Remember every woman’s experience with food during pregnancy is different, so it’s worth asking to be referred to a dietitian through your GP/midwife or working privately with a nutritional therapist to ensure you are eating correctly for you and your baby.
