Diabetes Rate In Pregnant Women Doubles

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit | (0) Comments

Doctors have found that the diabetes rate for pregnant women doubled during the 99-05 period. Since this is 08, we can probably expect the rate to be higher now. The primary cause is of course lifestyle- obesity from overeating and under-exercising. The big problem is that not only is the mother’s health at risk, but the baby’s as well.

…

Diabetes can be a dangerous complication during pregnancy, endangering the mother and also raising the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or birth defects, said Jean M. Lawrence, lead author of the study published in the May issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

It also can lead to bigger babies and to children who are at risk of developing diabetes and obesity later in life, said Lawrence, who is also a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, Calif.

“Having diabetes during pregnancy has implications for the baby,” she said.

The rise in diabetes in pregnant women is “a big problem” because it’s probably a nationwide trend occurring hand-in-hand with obesity, which also carries other risk factors for birth complications, said Dr. Raul Artal, chairman of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at St. Louis University’s School of Medicine in Missouri.

Artal noted that in addition to diabetes, obese women often develop high blood pressure, which can lead to pregnancy complications. Also, some birth defects, such as neural tube defects —in which the brain or spinal fail to develop normally — are more common among infants born to obese moms.

…

MSNBC has the whole article. If you know someone who is pregnant and overweight, encourage them to ask their doctor about how to lose weight since things are obviously more complicated due to the pregnancy.