Causes of hypoglycemia in pregnant women. Hypoglycemia. When does low blood sugar occur?

During pregnancy, if the female body is healthy, then the presence of hypoglycemia occurs sporadically. In patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the amount of glucose may cross the lower limit of 3.5 mmol/l. This is the final level of normal sugar levels. When the levels become even lower, then hypoglycemia occurs.

What causes hypoglycemia in pregnant women?

During pregnancy, the expectant mother experiences hormonal changes in her body. Thanks to hormones, the following changes occur in the body of a pregnant woman:

• enzymatic activity increases;
• processes of metabolic functions in the body are accelerated;
• the activity of the pancreas and thyroid gland improves.

Often the determining factor is that the pancreas produces more insulin, which can become a factor in the development of hypoglycemia.

Often in the first three months of bearing a child, a woman is worried about toxicosis. With severe symptoms, vomiting is possible, and, as a result, dehydration, lack of nutrients, including a decrease in plasma glucose and the occurrence of hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia can occur in a woman during pregnancy if she decides to lose excess weight with a low-carbohydrate diet. The body needs more nutrients to bear a child, therefore, you need to eat food correctly, after consulting with your doctor.

In a patient with type 1 diabetes who uses insulin, hypoglycemia can occur due to a lack of nutrients, excessive insulin levels, or improper adherence to the diet and treatment of the disease. Approximately the same reasons may occur with an overdose of drugs to lower plasma glucose for type 2 diabetes.

Most often, hypoglycemia during pregnancy develops at 16-17 weeks. In the first three months of pregnancy, the child develops intensively, therefore, any deviation from the norm can affect the woman’s well-being.

Features of hypoglycemia

When the amount of glucose in the plasma decreases, an imbalance of various processes occurs. The nature of these disorders will depend on the level of the condition encountered.

Hypoglycemia occurs:

• in a mild form;
• in severe;
• in critical - hypoglycemic coma.

The condition may occur suddenly or gradually. This depends on how quickly your blood sugar levels drop.

The reaction is observed first in brain cells, since they are the most sensitive to sugar levels.

Sugar energizes brain cells. The brain signals the adrenal glands, which produce adrenaline. Due to this, partially accumulated glycogen is converted into sugar, which helps the body for a short time.

This method cannot be used repeatedly, because the amount of glycogen has its limits. If you do nothing to stabilize the amount of sugar in the blood, the condition will worsen again.

Signs of hypoglycemia:

1. increased feeling of hunger;
2. state of dizziness;
3. feeling of restlessness;
4. headache;
5. muscle tremors;
6. pale skin;
7. arrhythmia;
8. increased heart rate;
9. increased blood pressure;
10. With complications, loss of consciousness and sudden cardiovascular failure may occur.

During pregnancy, hypoglycemia is a risk for the fetus, which does not receive the necessary nutrition and its development is disrupted. If there is a sharp decrease in glucose levels or a rapid jump in blood pressure, the fetus may die.

There is still an important issue here, and it should not be ignored either.

Consequences of hypoglycemia for pregnancy

Hypoglycemia harms both the woman and her fetus. Since a woman has a disruption in the blood supply to the main retina, her memory and thinking become worse. In addition, in this case, at the end of pregnancy, the woman may develop diabetes.

For the unborn child, hypoglycemia may result in the following:

• the baby may be born with underdevelopment, that is, with disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system, the function of the heart muscle, or with various deviations of anatomical features;
• fetal macrosomia occurs, when weight can increase significantly, in which case a cesarean section is performed;
• hypoglycemia can cause polyhydramnios;
• dysfunction of the placenta;
• risk of miscarriage.

The main thing to remember is: in order to begin the necessary therapy and eliminate unwanted complications, it is necessary to determine whether the woman has hypoglycemia before pregnancy, or whether it is worth starting diabetes treatment during pregnancy.

With the first option, there is a chance to prevent the child from developing diabetes.

Methods to prevent hypoglycemia during pregnancy

To avoid unwanted complications, a pregnant woman with diabetes should register with an endocrinologist and gynecologist at the very beginning of pregnancy in order to undergo regular examinations.

To protect the fetus, a pregnant woman should definitely monitor her blood glucose levels personally every day. To do this, you need to use a glucometer, for example, or test strips.

If a pregnant woman has an attack of hypoglycemia, and she feels a feeling of weakness, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and blood sugar levels are less than 3.0 mmol/l, then the woman needs to provide first aid:

1. If there is severe vomiting, convulsions, or the patient is unconscious, 1 mg of glucagon should be urgently administered intramuscularly. It is necessary that this tool is always at hand.
2. If the pregnant woman is able to drink, you can give her 0.5 cups of apple, orange or grape juice. It is recommended to give her 10 g of 5% glucose solution. You should not consume milk, fruits and those foods that contain fiber, protein and slowly digestible carbohydrates, since glucose is not formed quickly. Delaying time may worsen hypoglycemia.
3. Glucose levels should be monitored every 15 minutes until they return to normal. As long as there are signs of hypoglycemia, a pregnant woman should not be left without the supervision of doctors or relatives; she must continue to drink juice in small portions.

During the metabolic process in the body, carbohydrates and approximately half of the proteins are converted into glucose, which in the form of glycogen will be “stored” in the liver and then released into the blood. The hormone that is produced by the pancreas and is involved in converting glucose into “energy” is called insulin. When blood glucose levels rise, the pancreas begins to produce more insulin. If the pancreas produces more insulin than is needed to process glucose, blood glucose levels drop.

All cells of the body, and especially brain cells, require a constant blood glucose level of at least 3.5 mmol/l for their normal functioning. When this value is lower, a condition called hypoglycemia occurs. Our body perceives a drop in blood glucose levels as a distress signal, and the system turns on, which breaks down the glycogen “stored” in the liver, under the influence of special hormones called contrainsular hormones, into glucose.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia

The initial symptoms of hypoglycemia are associated with the action of these hormones: anxiety, fear, trembling, increased sweating. Then weakness, pallor, a feeling of hunger, rapid heartbeat, a feeling of “goosebumps” all over the body, yawning, doubling of objects, speech impairment, poor coordination of movements, and sometimes irritability, drowsiness or insomnia appear. The symptoms of hypoglycemia are not the same even in the same person.

If a patient is suspected of having hypoglycemia, it is necessary to call a doctor and provide first aid: give the patient a few pieces of sugar, or a spoonful of honey, or several glucose tablets on the cheek. When the blood glucose level drops below 1.7 mmol/l, the development of hypoglycemic coma begins, leading to tragic consequences. You can monitor your blood sugar levels with a glucometer or test strips.
Hypoglycemia can develop after drinking too much alcohol, especially if the alcohol is consumed without food.

Hypoglycemia can occur in a diabetic patient if he or she incorrectly takes medications that lower blood sugar levels or violates the diet and exercise regimen.
A diabetic diet to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia is mandatory. Meals should be in small portions and with short time intervals between meals. Food must be balanced in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrate content. It is necessary to limit foods high in carbohydrates (for example, sweets). Alcohol is very harmful (especially without food). Preference should be given to legumes, oatmeal, pearl barley, citrus fruits and apples. Bakery products should be made from whole grain flour. A patient with diabetes must monitor blood sugar levels several times a day and control the dose of medications taken, and always carry a sugar-containing product (sweets, refined sugar, glucose tablets) with them. The optimal breakfast is a sandwich made from bran bread and low-fat cheese.

Hypoglycemia during pregnancy

Hypoglycemia during pregnancy can cause heart rhythm disturbances, increased blood pressure, and in severe cases can lead to fetal death. Therefore, a woman must follow doctors’ recommendations regarding taking medications, monitoring blood sugar levels, regarding physical activity, and following a diet. This will help prevent hypoglycemia during pregnancy.
In newborns with hypoglycemia, the following are observed: unstable body temperature, tachycardia, sweating, pallor.
The main causes of hypoglycemia in newborns are:
1. problems during pregnancy and childbirth,
2. from the mother,
3. premature pregnancy, low birth weight newborn.
Unfortunately, today a large number of newborns experience disorders in the nervous system as a consequence of hypoglycemia, and doctors cannot save some children.

Monitoring the compliance of all vital parameters with the norm is very important during pregnancy.

After all, the significantly increased load on a woman’s body during this period forces the main systems and organs to work much more actively, which can lead to health problems.

Even small disturbances in homeostasis in the body can cause unpleasant and painful sensations. In particular, it is a fairly common occurrence during pregnancy.

This condition not only provokes unpleasant sensations, but can also be dangerous for the fetus and the woman carrying it. What are the signs indicating low blood sugar during pregnancy, what could this condition indicate, and how should it be dealt with?

Signs

Signs of decreased glucose in pregnant women are absolutely no different from the symptoms that accompany other cases.

Low sugar levels cause:

• irritability and anxiety;
• nausea;
• sweating

In addition, tremors of the limbs and rapid heartbeat often appear.

Of course, many of the symptoms presented above may not be associated with a drop in glucose and may be caused by other diseases or, for example, food poisoning.

However, if several symptoms are simultaneously observed for a week or longer and occur after eating or due to a relatively long break between meals, or occur after eating a large amount of food, this most likely indicates problems with sugar levels.

Reasons for low sugar

There are three main ones for pregnant women.

The first, internal reason is high activity, leading to the production of excessive amounts of insulin.

The second, external – malnutrition. Especially often, a decrease in sugar is observed when a pregnant woman follows a diet that is not recommended by the attending physician and is unbalanced and poor in nutrients.

Finally, fetal development also requires a certain amount of glucose. In this regard, a drop in blood sugar levels may be observed, since the expectant mother’s body first of all provides the child with the necessary substances, often to the detriment of her own health.

The most serious and worrisome is the first reason that contributes to low sugar during pregnancy.

After all, abnormally active functioning of the pancreas often indicates the presence of a disease, for example, a benign or malignant tumor.

The development of pathology leads to the fact that cells produce more insulin than the body needs.

However, poor nutrition is much more common, along with the expectant mother’s increased need for glucose. The process of restructuring the body during pregnancy is quite slow - all organs and systems need time to better adapt to maintaining the life and development of the fetus.

Added to this is poor nutrition, when a woman either consciously limits herself to food due to the inevitable weight gain during pregnancy, or eats an unbalanced diet, receiving few nutrients.

By the way, paradoxically, excessive consumption of sweet foods can also cause a rapid drop in sugar.

This occurs because the intake of large amounts of glucose activates the pancreas.

If excessive consumption of sweets occurs often enough, the body gets used to this diet and begins to constantly produce excess insulin. There are certain risk factors for hypoglycemia. Low blood glucose during pregnancy is observed more often if the expectant mother eats irregularly and prefers low-calorie foods.

Hypoglycemia can also develop as a result of certain diseases. In particular - ulcers.

Particularly harmful is the constant consumption of sweeteners and various products with artificially reduced calorie content. When they enter the body, the production of “extra” insulin begins, as a result of which glucose in the blood drops.

Active during pregnancy also reduces sugar levels, especially when combined with a strict diet.

After all, muscles that work with full dedication need energy, which is provided by glucose. Accordingly, its amount in the blood decreases.

Finally, an imbalanced diet and excessive indulgence in sweets and carbonated sweetened drinks can also lead to hypoglycemia. A diet high in simple foods is especially dangerous for an expectant mother who has problems with the pancreas.

How to avoid hypoglycemia?

If there are no problems in the functioning of the pancreas, you can bring low blood sugar during pregnancy back to normal by following a number of fairly simple recommendations that have a beneficial effect not only on glucose levels, but also on the general condition of the body of the mother and the unborn child.

First of all, you need to get your nutrition in order. A pregnant woman's diet should be as balanced as possible, with a predominance of healthy foods. It is better to avoid food with a significant amount of simple carbohydrates or minimize its amount.

But it is imperative to consume sources of complex carbohydrates. These include starch, glycogen and fiber - substances containing long molecular chains of glucose. The main difference between these substances and simple or monosaccharides is their ability to accumulate in human muscle cells.

Thus, when the body works normally, these substances are not active.

As soon as intense work begins and additional energy is required, special enzymes break down polysaccharides and glucose is formed, which, through interaction with insulin, provides energy to the cells.

At the same time, the caloric content of the diet should be at a fairly high level. It must be remembered that a pregnant woman should receive an additional twenty-five to thirty calories for every kilogram of her body weight. Shortage turns on the mechanism of their production from glucose and reduces sugar levels.

In addition to diet, diet is also important. It is best to eat at least four times a day, without snacking, but also without allowing breaks longer than four hours between meals.

Thus, the total amount of food consumed will not increase, the load on the digestive system will decrease, and the absorption of nutrients will improve.

Organs and glands, in particular the pancreas, will work more smoothly, without peaks of activity after rare but plentiful meals. Accordingly, the production of insulin is stabilized, and therefore the level of glucose in the blood.

Very important during pregnancy. However, if there is a tendency for glucose to drop excessively, it is better to avoid complex exercises that put stress on the body. It is better to prefer physical education that provides normal physical activity, but does not overload the muscles and cardiovascular system.

Long walks in a forested area will also be useful. It is worth remembering the correct alternation of physical activity and rest, sleep and wakefulness. It is very important to avoid excessive fatigue, both physical and mental - it can also cause a significant decrease in sugar.

If a pregnant woman still continues to play sports, it is very advisable to follow a simple rule.

Moderate tiredness and tiredness should only be felt after training, at home.

If fatigue is felt during exercises, they must be stopped, and next time be sure to reduce the load. Otherwise, such physical activity can cause significant harm, including hypoglycemia.

With a significant decrease in sugar, it is advisable to have lollipops with you - their use will help to quickly, but relatively briefly, increase your glucose level if necessary.

Video on the topic

About the symptoms and treatment of low blood glucose during pregnancy in the video:

In general, you need to understand that a serious decrease in sugar levels is no less dangerous than its excess, and can lead to very serious consequences for the health and even life of both the pregnant woman and the unborn child.

Therefore, it is necessary to monitor this parameter, follow recommendations for its stabilization and, if necessary, immediately seek medical help. Consultation with a specialist at the first signs of hypoglycemia will preserve the health and life of mother and child.

• Gestational diabetes mellitus - when fasting blood sugar is equal to or more than 5.1 mmol/l and less than 7.0 mmol/l, 1 hour after the OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) is equal to or more than 10.0 mmol/l, 2 hours after OGTT is equal to or more than 8.5 mmol/L and less than 11.1 mmol/L.
• If the blood sugar level is higher than or equal to 7.0 mmol/l, blood is taken again from a vein on an empty stomach and 2 hours after a meal to determine glycemia. If blood sugar is again 7.0 mmol/l or higher, and two hours after eating 11.1 mmol/l or higher, a diagnosis of manifest diabetes mellitus is made.

All studies should be carried out on venous blood plasma. When assessing blood sugar levels from a finger, the data is not informative!

Unfortunately, the reasons have not been fully identified, so women continue to face such problems.

General characteristics. Etiology

Types of carbohydrate metabolism disorders during pregnancy

And as a separate niche - diabetes insipidus preceding pregnancy, which is difficult even with the use of desmopressin.

Gestational diabetes occurs in women only during pregnancy. It is detected and diagnosed in a short period of time, while before conception any problems with carbohydrate metabolism already indicate the presence of type 2 diabetes.

After experiencing GDM, there remains a high probability that it will “develop” into type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this situation, one recommendation can be given - in the future, register with an endocrinologist in order to prevent the possible development of the disease in advance and bring it under control in time.

Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed at an early age and progresses rapidly. With this disease, you can give birth to a healthy baby only if you always maintain strict self-control and follow the recommendations of the attending physician conducting treatment together with an obstetrician-gynecologist, who will help you choose the correct doses of insulin.

It is important to understand here that during different periods of pregnancy, during and after childbirth, monitoring glycemic levels and administering insulin correctly is vital not only for the baby, but also for the mother in labor.

Insulin therapy during and after childbirth

If a woman with type 2 diabetes takes some kind of hypoglycemic drugs and without them it is impossible to achieve compensation for the disease, then even at the stage of pregnancy planning (i.e. before conception) you should come to the endocrinologist and ask him to transfer you to intensive insulin therapy, because the tablets used the drugs have an extremely detrimental effect on the health of the unborn child.

In order to talk at least a little about insulin therapy for pregnant women, it is necessary to divide the entire process into several fragments, consisting of different stages.

Treatment of hypoglycemia during pregnancy

Any mother during pregnancy certainly thinks about the health of the baby. However, she does not always pay attention to the dependence of the fetus on her own condition.

Due to excessive weight gain, a woman may have complexes and refuse to eat or go on a diet without consulting a specialist. In this case, the carbohydrate balance can change greatly.

Women's hormonal levels undergo great changes during pregnancy, for example, the pancreas begins to produce more insulin under the influence of estrogen and prolactin, while people who are far from diseases such as diabetes mellitus do not always manage to understand that glucose levels are inexorably falling.

In severe cases, if there is a danger of developing a condition such as hypoglycemia in pregnant women, all internal organs will suffer, and there is a high probability of a threat to the physical and mental state of not only the fetus, but also the mother.

Or, on the contrary, mommy, due to a constant desire to eat something unusual, gains weight and independently upsets the balance of hormones, thereby provoking the development of diabetes. And just as in the first case, it is not always possible to notice an increase in sugar - hyperglycemia during pregnancy is also dangerous.

But the child develops and receives all the necessary substances from the mother; an excess or lack of glucose can have a detrimental effect on his health. Because he cannot yet control his sugar levels on his own using pancreatic hormones.

Hyperglycemia in pregnant women can lead to hyperglycemia in newborns and the development of diabetes mellitus in babies from birth.

This is why it is so important to control the diet of the expectant mother and monitor her sugar levels, especially if she is already diagnosed with diabetes or there is a possibility of disruption of other metabolic processes.

You also need to listen to the state of your own body, if you notice excessive fatigue, constant thirst, you need to seek advice from a doctor managing your pregnancy.

There is no need to be panicky about diabetes during pregnancy and its symptoms. When choosing the right therapeutic tactics and method of delivery, the prognosis for mother and child is very favorable.

However, it is necessary to suspect the presence of the disease in time and begin its treatment. The clinical picture of gestational diabetes in pregnant women largely repeats the symptoms of the “sweet” type 2 disease. The main features remain:

• Increased thirst;
• Constant feeling of hunger;
• Discomfort caused by an increase in the number of trips to the toilet accompanied by an increase in the amount of urine. The symptom is further aggravated by the growth of the fetus and physical compression of the bladder by the uterus;
• Sleep rhythm disturbance;
• General weakness. The woman’s very rapid fatigue progresses;
• Itching in the perineal area;
• Dyspepsia (nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort);
• Deterioration of vision.

These traditional signs of diabetes should alert a woman and cause her to see a doctor. Sometimes changes in the patient’s condition can be attributed to the peculiarities of the course of pregnancy.

With the progression of any unclear phenomena, it is necessary to undergo more thorough laboratory diagnostics, which can accurately determine the cause of such a change in the woman’s condition.

Symptoms of gestational diabetes during pregnancy can vary in severity. Some people have progressive hyperglycemia with a tendency to develop comatose states, while others have only a slight increase in thirst throughout the day.

To correctly diagnose gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnant women, it is necessary to conduct a laboratory blood test to detect hyperglycemia, which persists for a long time.

Gestational diabetes in pregnant women is a serious problem that threatens the health of mother and child. The issue of adequate therapy is particularly relevant to maintaining the well-being of both of them.

Diabetic pathology during pregnancy is not always transient. A woman can conceive a child while suffering from a persistent disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. Having become pregnant with type 1 diabetes, the expectant mother must take a particularly responsible approach to her situation.

The pathology is more severe than the second option for the development of the “sweet” disease. It is less amenable to correction and is fraught with serious complications. Pregnancy with type 1 diabetes mellitus can act as a stimulus for a sharp deterioration in a woman’s condition.

This becomes the reason for interrupting pregnancy. Doctors do not recommend planning a child for patients with pathology in the absence of stable compensation for carbohydrate metabolism disorders.

Treatment of hypoglycemia should be carried out depending on the condition of the patient.

To give birth to a child, the body must initially adjust to bearing it. In the first months of pregnancy, serious physiological processes occur that cause hormonal imbalance, leading to a deterioration in both emotional and physical condition.

In this regard, it is completely normal to experience some unpleasant, unusual sensations bordering on malaise, weakness and excessively rapid fatigue during the working day.

The placenta is a kind of “analogue” of the pancreas and it is it that synthesizes steroid hormones. In this regard, when considering the normalized parameters of a healthy person, it is completely wrong to rely on the standards characteristic of the normal state.

In pregnant women, the values ​​of triglycerides, free fatty acids, and ketone bodies are always somewhat elevated. A different picture occurs with amino acids and glucose, of which there is noticeably less.

It is for this reason that blood glycemia, even with existing diabetes, is always below the “usual” or usual values ​​for a diabetic.

The initial task that is set for the expectant mother is to achieve stable compensation for the disease! Moreover, it is recommended to achieve these results 2 - 4 or more months before conception.

In addition, it is important to undergo all the necessary examinations and consult with a number of specialists in order to exclude the development of possible complications that would be extremely undesirable during pregnancy and after childbirth.

Tests that must be taken during pregnancy and a list of required specialists

Developing an individual diet for a pregnant woman is one of the most important stages in the development of a nascent life. After all, food is energy that we must receive every day in the quantity, volume and quality that will be needed not only by the mother, but also by the unborn child.

Any diabetic already knows what role nutrition plays in the life of a person who wants to be healthy. Therefore, it is worth knowing how to properly develop your personal diet and choose a complete daily menu, based not only on your preferences, but also taking into account the recommendations of a diabetologist.

High blood glucose poses a danger not only to the mother's body, but also to the fetus. High sugar levels increase the risk of developing preeclampsia, pyelonephritis, premature delivery, complications during pregnancy and the birth of the baby.

Medical statistics show that hyperglycemia causes spontaneous abortions, premature aging of the placenta, and late toxicosis. Elevated glucose levels lead to disruption of blood vessels, which alters the sufficient supply of blood and vital nutrients and trace elements to the fetus.

Late toxicosis is one of the severe complications of high blood glucose levels in pregnant women. This condition is manifested by significant swelling, the appearance of protein in the urine, weight gain, and an increase in blood pressure. In addition, hyperglycemia provokes the development of polyhydramnios (in 65% of clinical cases).

(1) Perinatal Medical Center, Moscow; (2) State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education “RNIMU named after. N.I.Pirogov" Ministry of Health of Russia, Moscow

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a high risk of perinatal, obstetric and vascular complications in the mother. In order to improve pregnancy outcomes, women with diabetes need to have glycemic levels within strict normal limits.

Target glycemic values ​​during pregnancy are achieved only with an integrated approach to treatment, which includes repeated self-monitoring of glycemia and ketonuria, intensified insulin therapy, the use of insulin pump therapy, split meals with the exclusion of carbohydrates with a high glycemic index and a high content of dietary fiber, and dosed physical activity.

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Donating blood to study sugar levels is a mandatory test during pregnancy. Diagnosis is carried out throughout the entire period of pregnancy, especially if the woman is at risk of developing the disease.

Hypoglycemia in a woman during pregnancy can occur for several reasons, such as:

• A change in the amount of food taken, while either a decrease or an increase in the amount may result in a lack of sugar;
• During pregnancy, a woman's body consumes more nutrients than usual;
• A decrease in plasma glucose, causing type 2 diabetes, characterized by a chronic form of the disease;
• Liver dysfunction.

As a rule, during pregnancy, hypoglycemia develops in the early stages due to the intensive growth of the child in the womb.

Among the provoking factors for the appearance of this disease, it is worth noting the following:

• The use of insulin by a woman, as well as its possible overdose, while patients with diabetes mellitus usually suffer from hypoglycemia;
• Failure of organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys.

Symptoms

The appearance of symptoms during hypoglycemia can be either rapid or, conversely, expressed in the long-term appearance of individual symptoms that occur gradually. These may include discomfort, fatigue and slight dizziness, as well as symptoms such as:

• Loss of consciousness;
• High fatigue;
• The appearance of headaches;
• Increased sweating;
• Trembling in arms, legs;
• State of anxiety and restlessness;
• Frequent heartbeat;
• Increased feeling of hunger;
• Changing the color of the skin to a paler shade.

Diagnosis of hypoglycemia during pregnancy

Diagnosis of the disease is carried out by doctors when a woman contacts her, in case of complaints about her health, as well as during periodic medical examinations. In this case, the diagnosis of hypoglycemia is carried out based on the data obtained from several studies, such as visual examination, palpation, etc., as well as from laboratory blood tests, so when the concentration of blood sugar level decreases below 2.8 mmol/l, hypoglycemia is diagnosed.

Also, an instrumental research method is used, which consists in the use of certain instruments, such as an electrocardiograph, computed tomograph, etc.

Complications

Hypoglycemia is a disease that can affect both the health of the woman and the health of the unborn child. At the same time, if blood circulation is impaired during pregnancy, problems with memory and thinking occur in the child. For the unborn child, hypoglycemia can be expressed in the following:

• Disruption of the nervous system in the unborn child, underdevelopment of the nervous system, cardiovascular or other;
• A sharp increase in fetal weight, facilitating a cesarean section;
• The appearance of polyhydramnios;
• Risk of miscarriage.

It is worth noting that before pregnancy it is necessary to diagnose the woman’s existing diseases and carry out the necessary preventive measures necessary to prevent complications, as well as pre-determine treatment in the presence of hypoglycemia in the period before pregnancy.

Treatment

What can you do

Treatment of hypoglycemia is aimed, first of all, at reducing the symptoms of the disease and can be carried out either with or without the use of medications, with a mild degree of the disease.

Thus, with stage 1 hypoglycemia, maintaining normal blood sugar levels is achieved through a balanced diet, including foods containing carbohydrates, such as sweet tea.

The manifestation of the disease in the second stage requires immediate intake of foods with easily digestible carbohydrates, such as jam or compote. As a rule, with timely normalization of blood sugar levels, it is possible to avoid visiting a doctor.

It is important to understand that eating foods such as ice cream, cakes, etc. does not have a positive effect on the body; with a high sugar content, these products contain fats that slow down the absorption of carbohydrates.

What does a doctor do

In the third stage of the disease, it is necessary to consult a doctor to provide effective emergency assistance, which consists of intravenous administration of a glucose solution to prevent cerebral edema. At the same time, at this stage, the pregnant woman is hospitalized in order to monitor the consequences of hypoglycemia and correct the blood condition.

Prevention

To prevent the disease, a woman must consult a doctor before pregnancy to conduct research and make an accurate diagnosis of the presence or absence of the disease. It should be understood that the disease directly affects the health and well-being of the child. Therefore, in the very early stages of pregnancy, a woman needs to register with doctors and undergo examinations carried out on a regular basis.

Among the additional measures necessary to prevent the onset of the disease, it is necessary to monitor the blood sugar level and use a glucometer, while it should be understood that at different stages of pregnancy, the blood sugar level may fluctuate, even in the absence of the disease.

It is worth noting that blood sugar is one of the most common causes of the development of other diseases, such as visual impairment, the appearance of gangrene, and tumors.

If there are symptoms of the disease, it is necessary to urgently provide the woman with first aid, which may include the following:

• Intramuscular injection of a substance containing sugar in cases where vomiting, cramps and pain occur. At the same time, it is worth keeping medications containing these substances as accessible as possible in your home.
• It is recommended to take apple or orange juice with the addition of a weak glucose solution. At the same time, products such as milk and fruits must be excluded from your diet, because they contain enzymes.
• Monitor your glucose status several times an hour until your blood sugar levels return to normal.