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![]() Glucose testingSometime between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, most women will have a blood glucose screening test performed. This test measures the level of sugar (glucose) in the mother's blood. For this test, you will be given a specially formulated glucose drink followed by a blood test of your glucose level after one hour. If the screening test shows your blood glucose is above a certain level, another test will be performed after a few days of following a special diet. The second test, called a glucose tolerance test, also involves drinking a glucose drink. Blood glucose levels are measured several times over the next few hours after this test. If results of the glucose tolerance test are in the abnormal range, gestational diabetes is diagnosed. |
What is gestational diabetes? |
Gestational diabetes is a condition in which the blood glucose level is elevated and other diabetic symptoms appear during pregnancy in a woman who has not previously been diagnosed with diabetes. Unlike other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes is not caused by a lack of insulin, but by blocking effects of placental hormones on the insulin that is produced, a condition referred to as insulin resistance. |
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