Diabetes during pregnancy commonly known as gestational diabetes is now a common issue faced by pregnant women. After delivery gestational diabetes usually goes away. During pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones that build up glucose. And the pancreas will produce insulin to handle it. If it doesn’t happen the blood sugar level will rise and it will result in gestational diabetes. This usually happens during the second trimester. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder. The way your body uses digested food determines your chances of developing diabetes. There are three types of diabetes. Type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes can be controlled by medicines, exercises, and modifying food habits. Several complications can happen in a diabetic pregnancy. They are
1. Needing to induce labour 
A pregnancy that is progressing normally does not need any induction to trigger labor. Oxytocin is the hormone that helps trigger labor and contraction. This prepares the cervix to get thinned and makes it ready for labor. Almost stillbirth and to prevent the baby from growing too big for vaginal birth. The World Health organisation recommends that labor should not be induced before 41 weeks if diabetes is the only medical reason.
2. Need for c-section
In a pregnancy that is affected by gestational diabetes, a c-section may be prescribed by your medical care provider. This is because there are chances for your baby to get stuck in the pelvis as the baby will be too big for vaginal birth. Shoulder Dystocia is a medical condition where a baby’s shoulder gets stuck inside the pelvic outlet. This is the major fear of doctors who prescribe a C-section. Death of the fetus can happen due to shoulder dystocia but it is very rare.
3. Large baby
A baby who weighs more than 90%of the weight of normal babies of the same gestational age is considered a large baby. A large baby can be born of so many reasons like if the parents are large or if the mother is obese or diabetic. But the main reason why the baby is too large for vaginal birth is gestational diabetes.
4. Neonatal hypoglycaemia
neonatal hypoglycemia can be transient or persistent. The causes of transient neonatal hypoglycemia are inadequate glycogen, immature enzyme function, and transient hyperinsulinism. Deficiency of glycogen is very common among preterm babies and babies born in very low birth weight. In such babies, hypoglycemia can develop especially when the nutrition intake is very poor or there are very long intervals between the feeding sessions. Hyperinsulinism among newborn babies of diabetic mothers is very common. When a mother has diabetes her baby is exposed to increased sugar levels because of the increased glucose level in the blood. When the umbilical cord is cut the baby ceases to get exposed to increased sugar levels but the body of the newborn still produces insulin as before. It will take days to decrease insulin production. The reason for persistent neonatal hypoglycemia is hyperinsulinism, defective growth hormone release, etc.
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