Last Updated on December 15, 2022 by Shabnam Sengupta
You should test for gestational diabetes during your pregnancy. Your doctor will recommend an oral glucose tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes (GD). You will get this test between 24th to 28th weeks of pregnancy. However, if you have a history of GD or has a higher chance of developing the disease, you have to undergo the test during the earlier stages of pregnancy.
Why should a woman undergo tests for GD?
Gestational diabetes can lead to a lot of serious complications; however, gestational diabetes mellitus rarely shows any symptoms. The long-term consequences of GDM for a pregnant mother include type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndromes and cardiovascular diseases. For a fetus, unmanaged blood sugar levels can cause fetal macrosomia (bigger size of a baby), C-section baby, preeclampsia, etc.
If you have gestational diabetes, your doctor will advise more health check-ups and recommend extra care during your pregnancy and labour.
In some cases, you can control gestational diabetes by making changes in diet and exercise, while others will need to take medication as advised by the doctor.
When should a woman get the tests for gestational diabetes?
If you are at risk of gestational diabetes but do not take the screening test, gestational diabetes can’t be found and treated. As a consequence, this may increase the risk to you and your baby. Therefore, it is crucial that you undergo tests. A woman must undergo an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes. This test will determine the ability of the body to utilize blood sugar or glucose.
In order to screen for gestational diabetes, the OGTT is routinely performed at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. However, if you have a history of gestational diabetes, you have to do one OGTT earlier in the pregnancy, and then another OGTT at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy if the first test is normal.
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