Gestational diabetes (diabetes in pregnancy)
GDM, sugar in pregnancy
What it is
High blood sugar that starts during pregnancy. It can make the baby grow too big and make birth harder. It usually goes away after birth, but the mother has a higher chance of type 2 diabetes later.
Common signs
- Often no signs at all
- Very thirsty
- Passing urine often (also common in normal pregnancy)
- Baby growing larger than expected
How it is diagnosed
Many clinics test blood sugar between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. You drink a sweet drink and your sugar is checked before and after. High results mean gestational diabetes.
Tests
- Oral glucose tolerance test — sugar before and after a sweet drink
- Fasting finger-prick glucose — sugar level after no food overnight
- Ultrasound — checks the baby’s size
- Sugar test 6–12 weeks after birth — checks if diabetes has gone
How food affects it
Food is the first treatment. Spread meals through the day and keep starchy portions small. Choose beans, vegetables and whole grains. Some women still need medicine or insulin — follow your health worker’s advice. Do not try to lose weight while pregnant.
Food as medicine, alongside your medicine. Food works alongside your medicines, not instead of them. Never stop or change your tablets without talking to your health worker.
Eat often
- Leafy greens, okra, garden egg and tomatoes
- Beans, cowpeas, lentils and moi moi
- Eggs, fish and chicken — protein for you and the baby
- Whole grains: millet, sorghum, teff, brown rice
- Milk, yoghurt or amasi without added sugar
Eat in moderation
- Rice, yam, fufu, gari and ugali — small portions, spread across meals
- Fruit — one piece at a time, not juice
- Oils — a little
Avoid or cut down
- Sugary drinks: soda, malt, sweetened zobo, juice
- Sweets, cakes and fried snacks
- Sugar in tea and pap
- Alcohol — never safe in pregnancy
Get help urgently
Go to a health facility now if the baby moves less, you have a bad headache or blurred vision, or you are very thirsty and drowsy.
General information, not a diagnosis. Always follow the advice of your health worker.