Gestational Diabetes: Watching Your Baby

Gestational Diabetes: Watching Your Baby

Close observation of your baby is very important when you have gestational diabetes. Working closely with your health care team will help you give birth to a healthy baby. Your health care provider should closely check both you and your baby throughout the pregnancy.

Fetal monitoring to check the size and health of the fetus often includes ultrasound and non stress tests.When you have gestational diabetes, your health care team may recommend some extra tests to check on your baby, extra ultrasound scans to check how your baby is growing and how much amniotic fluid you have. You’ll probably be advised extra ultrasound scans every four weeks from week 28 to week 36 week of your pregnancy.

Tests that will be conducted to monitor your baby’s well being:

Non  stress test:

A non stress test is a very simple, painless test for you and your baby. A machine called electronic fetal monitor that hears and displays your baby’s heartbeat is used to perform this test. Sensors are placed on your stomach and connected to a monitor to measure your baby’s heart rate. Your baby’s heart beat should increase when the baby moves. If your baby’s heart doesn’t beat faster during movement, the baby may not be getting enough oxygen. When the baby moves, the baby’s heart rate normally increases 15 – 20 beats above its regular rate. Your health care provider can compare the pattern of your baby’s heartbeat to movements and find out whether the baby is doing well. Your health care provider will look for increases in the baby’s normal heart rate occurring within a certain period of time.

Biophysical profile (BPP):

To see how your baby is growing your doctor will perform repeated ultrasound exams. This test combines a non stress test with an ultrasound study of your baby. There’s a scoring system that enables your doctor to evaluate your baby’s heartbeat, movements, breathing and overall muscle tone, and determine whether your baby is surrounded by a normal amount of amniotic fluid. Your baby’s scores on heartbeat, breathing and movement help your doctor tell if the baby’s getting enough oxygen. When the amniotic fluid is low, it may mean that your baby hasn’t been urinating enough. This could indicate that over time the placenta has not been working as well as it should.

Fetal movement counting:

Your doctor may perform this simple test at the same time as the non stress test or the biophysical profile. You simply count how often your baby kicks over a set time. Kick counts is done to check your baby’s activity. The time between the baby’s movements is checked. Infrequent movement may mean your baby isn’t getting enough oxygen.

If you don’t go into labor by your due date or sometimes your doctor may induce labor earlier .

Delivering after your due date may increase the risk of complications for you and your baby.