Why should all pregnant women be screened for gestational diabetes?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Thi Man - Doctor of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital
Gestational diabetes (gestational diabetes) is a glucose tolerance disorder that occurs in pregnant women, which can lead to complications such as malformations, miscarriage, stillbirth, polyhydramnios, ..
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1. Why should pregnant women be screened for gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes can lead to many risks for both the mother and the fetus. Here are some dangerous complications caused by gestational diabetes:
Causes birth defects such as: nervous system (cerebrovascular disease, hydrocephalus), urinary system (renal atrophy, renal cysts) , two urethras) and most commonly anomalies in the cardiovascular system (ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, inversion of large vessels). Fetal growth retardation: fetuses of mothers with gestational diabetes, especially those with vascular complications, often have poor growth in utero, possibly due to poor perfusion or poor glycemic control of the fetus. The mother is too tight Fetal over 4 kg: Polyhydramnios is a condition in which there is too much amniotic fluid (over 1000 ml, often over 3000 ml), which causes discomfort or pain in pregnant women before giving birth and is often associated with large fetus. Miscarriage or stillbirth: the main cause of stillbirth is birth defects, fetal respiratory failure or maternal ketoacidosis. Some cases of fetal death are due to eclampsia or pre-eclampsia, which is a fairly common complication in pregnant women with diabetes.

Newborns born to mothers with gestational diabetes may experience complications such as hypoglycemia within 48 hours of birth, respiratory failure, hypocalcemia, increased bilirubin, poor feeding, etc.

2. Time to screen for gestational diabetes

Perform diagnostic testing for diabetes (for previously undiagnosed diabetes) at the first prenatal visit for those with high risk factors Perform diagnostic testing for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy for women who have not been previously diagnosed with diabetes. In women with a history of gestational diabetes, screening should be performed to monitor the development of the disease at least every 3 years.

3. Diagnosis of gestational diabetes

The diagnosis of gestational diabetes is based on the results of a glucose tolerance test. Pregnant women will be performed 75g oral glucose tolerance test (75-g OGTT) as follows:
Applicable subjects: All pregnant women from 24 to 28 weeks who have not been screened for gestational diabetes and disorders impaired glucose tolerance.
Contraindications : Pregnant women who have been diagnosed with clinical diabetes and have impaired glucose tolerance.

Procedure
Step 1: Instruct the patient to eat normally 3 days before. Step 2: Before the test, rest for at least 30 minutes. Step 3: The test is done in the morning after fasting for 8 hours before. Take blood for fasting blood sugar test, then pregnant woman drink 75g Glucose and test blood sugar again after 1 hour and 2 hours. Glucose tolerance test is a simple but very good technique for pregnant women to detect gestational diabetes early so that it can be prevented and treated in time, avoiding adverse consequences during pregnancy such as: : lack of amniotic fluid, premature birth, stillbirth, miscarriage...
Vinmec International General Hospital performs glucose tolerance test with a system of modern biochemical testing machines such as AU 680, AU 480 with accuracy very high. In addition, a team of highly qualified and dedicated medical doctors are ready to bring patients the best medical examination and treatment services.

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