Women who gain excessive weight during their pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, may increase their chances of developing gestational diabetes, according to a new study of 1,145 pregnant women by Kaiser Permanente’s research division.
In fact, women that pack on more pounds than recommended by the Institute of Medicine had a 50% greater chance of developing gestational diabetes, a form of the disease that appears during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes typically only lasts the length of the pregnancy, but can remain as Type 2 diabetes, also known as “insulin-resistant” diabetes. Insulin is the hormone that regulates the amount of sugar in the blood.
Gestational diabetes can cause complications in 7% of pregnancies in the U.S, including early delivery, C-sections, oversized babies, and an increase risk of Type 2 diabetes for the child later in life. Additionally, women that have gestational diabetes are also more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes later on in life as well.
For this particular study, Kaiser Permanente examined 1,145 pregnant women from an ethnically diverse population – 345 of which had gestational diabetes. The association between weight gain and gestational diabetes risk was more pronounced among overweight, non-white women.
Most women are typically screened for the condition between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. While the exact cause of any form of diabetes is not known, researchers hypothesize that with gestational diabetes, rapid weight gain early in pregnancy ultimately leads to the “exhaustion” of the beta-cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin. This could reduce beta-cells’ capacity to secrete adequate levels of insulin, leading to the development of gestational diabetes.
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