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Why do I Need a Diabetes Test? While being pregnant is a normal state for a woman, it does change her body. This includes the things you can see (increasing uterine size, breast enlargement, etc.) and changes that you can’t see. One of these changes is how her body handles glucose in the bloodstream. The hormones in pregnancy alter her body’s ability to store glucose. The diabetes test you are about to take is our way of determining if your body is able to metabolize and store glucose correctly while you are pregnant. Am I at Risk for Developing Diabetes? As stated above, the mere fact of being pregnant is a risk factor. Other factors include diabetes in a prior pregnancy, prior delivery of a large baby (more than 9 ˝ pounds), being more than 30 pounds overweight, excessive weight gain in the pregnancy and a very strong family history of diabetes (multiple close relatives with diabetes). Most importantly, in some women, there are no risk factors. For this reason, it is important to test all pregnant women. What happens if the One Hour Diabetes Test is Abnormal? The One Hour Diabetes Test is a screening test. If it is abnormal, then you will need to take a Three Hour Diabetes Test. For the Three Hour Test, you must arrive fasting (nothing to eat or drink for 8 hours). A glucose level is drawn. Then, over a 5-minute period, you drink another “glucose soda” that we provide and your blood is drawn every hour for three hours. If two of the four glucose levels are abnormal, or if just the fasting level is high, then you have Gestational Diabetes. What happens if I have Diabetes? We will schedule an appointment for you with a diabetes educator. She will explain what type of foods you can eat and how to eat them. You will be taught to do finger sticks to check your glucose levels at home, several times a day. Every few weeks, we may draw some blood to check your glucose levels. If you are able to maintain normal glucose levels on the diet, then there is no increase risk to you or your baby. In rare cases, a pregnant woman cannot control her glucose levels by diet alone and may require insulin. This is not very common so please don’t worry about this. How do I take the Diabetes Test? In most cases, you will be given the glucose drink to take home with you. If this is the case, please drink it about 45 minutes before your scheduled appointment. Prior to drinking the glucose “soda”, you do not have to be fasting but please do not eat a full meal or have any sugary foods (like soda, candy, cookies, etc.). In rare cases it can falsely elevate the test and require you to do the 3 Hour Diabetes Test described above. Once you have drunk the glucose “soda”, DO NOT EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING. Please keep the “soda” refrigerated prior to taking the test (it tastes better cold) but do not let anyone else taste or drink the soda. You must swallow all of it yourself. Drink the entire soda in 5 minutes and LOOK AT YOUR WATCH once you are done. We MUST draw your blood test ONE HOUR after you have FINISHED drinking the “soda”. If you are late, we will have to repeat the entire test. ONCE YOU ARRIVE AT THE OFFICE, PLEASE TELL THE SECRETARY WHAT TIME YOUR BLOOD DRAW IS DUE. If the one-hour mark approaches, please get the Medical Assistant to draw your blood even if we are not yet ready to see you.
By doing the test in this manner, we are trying to
decrease the amount of time you spend waiting in the office. If you are
afraid of running late, you can always drink the glucose “soda” in the
office and wait for one hour there. We hope this information makes the
importance of the diabetes test clear. Please let us know if you have any
questions. |
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Dundalk ● Baltimore ● Catonsville | Tel. 410-633-6300 | info@hoffmanobgyn.com |
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