# WHAT IS GESTATIONAL DIABETES?

May 28

Written By [Malama Health](/content/new-to-all-this?author=62d197200ff3d31faae3e282/index.html)

Simply put:

**diabetes** means the amount of sugar in your blood is too high

**gestational** (”in pregnancy”) implies that this happens during pregnancy

Gestational diabetes is typically diagnosed between 24-28 weeks of pregnancy (end of 2nd trimester to the start of 3rd trimester).

**THE SCIENCE:**

- Insulin is a hormone your body makes. It lowers your blood sugar every time you eat and when it is too high.
- If insulin is unable to do its job (this is called “insulin resistance”): sugar levels in your blood stay high.
- Excessive rises in blood sugar can lead to high blood pressure for mom, and too much sugar can be shared with baby.
- Having gestational diabetes does not mean your baby will be born with diabetes. But, women with gestational diabetes and their babies are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

**THE STATISTICS:**

- **You aren’t alone!** Between 10-20% of pregnant individuals have gestational diabetes ( [source](https://idf.org/our-activities/care-prevention/gdm.html))
- Rates of gestational diabetes are rising, with a 30% increase between 2016-2020 ( [source](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr71/nvsr71-03.pdf))

Take a deep breath and know you aren’t alone in this journey. Explore the rest of our articles to learn about how to get started

Source: Sweet Success California