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Diabetes Q&A | Gestational Diabetes | I know High Blood Sugar can cause large
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06/19/06 10:39 PM

"I know High Blood Sugar can cause large birth weights but how does low blood sugar affect my baby. Penny"
Asked By: pennyschella  
Category: Gestational Diabetes

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Expert Answers (1)

06/19/06 10:39 PM

Penny,

This is a very good question and a very hard one to answer. There have been some animal research studies done that indicate low blood sugar during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause birth defects. However, it is very hard to do research in pregnancy because we can not study the infants’ response without being invasive. The general consensus is that low blood sugar should be avoided as much as possible since we do not fully understand the implications on the growing baby. One thing we do know is that newborns of mother’s with diabetes can be born with low blood sugar. If a mother with diabetes has high blood sugars during pregnancy, the infant will be fed a “high sugar diet.” The infant can produce enough insulin to lower the blood sugar and store the sugar as fat, which is why many babies are born very large. However at birth, when this “high sugar diet” is abruptly taken away, the infant’s body is now producing larger amounts of insulin than needed resulting in hypoglycemia or a low blood sugar. The nurses and physicians are prepared for this to happen and will test the infant’s blood sugar soon after birth. The baby will be given sugar water if the blood sugar goes too low. This problem is short term and will resolve quickly as the baby’s insulin production returns to the normal required amount.

Deborah Greenwood, APRN,BC-ADM, MEd, CDE

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Answered By: Deborah Greenwood
Accreditations: MEd, CNS, BC-ADM, CDE
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