Gestational Diabetes - Increased Risk in Future Pregnancies

Women who have developed gestational diabetes during their first pregnancy are at a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes in future pregnancies. Other risk factors include women of the Latino and Asian Pacific Islander race, women who are 30 years old and older, and women who had a longer than two-year interval between pregnancies, the longer the amount of time between pregnancies increases the risk of developing gestational diabetes.

Studies indicate that women who gain a large amount of weight in the first trimester are at a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes. What causes gestational diabetes to occur in some non-diabetic women is still unclear. The only thing doctors are certain of is that any woman can get gestational diabetes.

The most important thing is the care the woman and unborn baby receives during the pregnancy. Most women who develop gestational diabetes will be diagnosed in the second and third trimester. If a woman has had gestational diabetes with previous pregnancies she is treated as a high-risk pregnancy and preventive measures are taken from the very beginning. Although, the risk is higher for women who had had gestational diabetes and it is common for them to develop it again in future pregnancies it is not “written in stone” that they will. It is somewhat of a mystery still.