Diabetes Gestational Diabetes:  It's a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy. Like other forms of diabetes, it affects the way your body uses sugar (glucose). Our bodies need glucose for energy to keep us going. But glucose can't enter our cells without the help of insulin which is produced in the pancreas. During pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones to sustain your pregnancy. These hormones make your cells more resistant to insulin. As your placenta grows larger in the second and third trimesters, it secretes more of these hormones - making it even harder for insulin to do its job. Normally, your pancreas responds by producing extra insulin. But sometimes your pancreas can't keep up. The result may be dangerously high blood sugar levels. Gestational diabetes usually develops during the second trimester, sometimes as early as the 20th week, but often not until later in the pregnancy. Thankfully gestational diabetes is short-lived. Blood sugar levels generally return to normal soon after delivery.
Signs And Symptoms:
Most women with gestational diabetes have no noticeable signs or symptoms but in rare cases, there's excessive thirst or increased urination. Who Are At Risk?
Pregnant women above 25, pre-diabetic, or overweight women and those with a family history of diabetes. For reasons that aren't clear, Women of Indian origin are more prone to it. The risk could be as high as 50-70% if both parents are diabetics. What Should You Do?
Screening for gestational diabetes should be a routine part of pre-natal care. Get your sugar level checked between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy, earlier if you're in the high-risk category. A fasting sugar level of 60 to 100 mg / dl and a post-prandial (two hours after taking 75gms of glucose) of 60 to 140 mg / dl is generally considered normal. ********************************************* More On Gestational Diabetes | 
