Lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise can successfully control gestational diabetes mellitus, or GDM, in approximately 90% of the pregnant women who are diagnosed with it. If blood glucose, or BG, targets are not achieved soon after they’re diagnosed, you may need to take medication(s). Insulin is considered the safest and most effective treatment of GDM. It has no side effects except the risk of hypoglycemia or low BG, which is fortunately uncommon in women with GDM.
An image of a pregnant woman being examined by an OB-GYN or some other type of medical professional should appear here, and it should be evident that an earnest, knowledgeable conversation is transpiring between the two.
If you have GDM, you may have to take one to four insulin injections daily, depending on whether your BG is high throughout the day or during part of it.
In the US, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved the following insulin preparation for use during pregnancy:
- Fast or rapid-acting: Novolog® (Insulin Aspart), Humalog® (Lispro Insulin)
- Regular Insulin (Humulin-R® and Novolin-R®)
- Slow-acting (Long or intermediate-acting): Levemir® (Insulin Detemir) and NPH Insulin (Humulin-N® and Novolin-N®).
The actual dose/amount of insulin you or any other woman with GDM must take varies depending on a variety of factors including age, body weight, duration of pregnancy, genetic factors, dietary intake, etc. Your health care professional (HCP) will help guide you in determining the correct amount of insulin you need to take each day and at what times during the day you need to take it (this will also be affected by issues such as diet and exercise). You will need to be seen quite often during your pregnancy, particularly while you need insulin treatment. It will be crucial to follow your HCP’s advice to ensure the best outcome for both you and your baby.
An image of a pregnant woman administering an insulin injection to herself OR having one administered to her by a HCP (but preferably the former) should appear here.
In some mild cases of GDM, or when a patient refuses to take insulin injections, two oral medicines can be used to help pregnant women manage their GDM. They are called metformin and glyburide. Metformin is moderately effective, causes less weight gain in pregnant mothers, may lead to less macrosomia (large babies), and has a lower chance of causing low glucose to occur in your newborn baby. However, 40% of the women who have GDM who begin taking metformin will eventually need insulin therapy. Glyburide may be used in some cases, but it can cause hypoglycemia (low blood glucose, or low BG). Once again, we advise that you please follow the advice of your HCP regarding your choice of GDM treatment to ensure the best possible outcome of your pregnancy for both you and your baby.
(For detailed information on these individual treatments, please refer to our articles on metformin, sulfonylureas and insulin treatments.)
*The terms “BG pattern” and “blood glucose pattern” and “pattern management” refer to your and other people who are living with diabetes’ abilities to make changes to your self-care plans based on taking and keeping track of your blood sugar, or blood glucose (BG), readings over set periods of timeMore information on BG pattern management can be found in our articles on X and Y.
