Gestational diabetes occurs when a pregnant woman's body is unable to produce enough insulin to meet increased demands during pregnancy. As pregnancy progresses, hormones cause insulin sensitivity to decrease and glucose levels to rise, which the pancreas normally compensates for with more insulin production. However, in gestational diabetes the pancreas is unable to produce enough additional insulin to keep blood glucose levels within the normal range.
2. McIntyre HD, Catalano P, Zhang C, Desoye G,
Mathiesen ER, Damm P. Gestational diabetes
mellitus. Nat Rev Dis Prim [Internet]. 2019;5(1):47.
Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-
019-0098-8
During early pregnancy,
increases in
estrogens,progestins, and other
pregnancy-related hormones
lead to lower glucose levels,
promotion of fat deposition,
delayed gastric emptying, and
increased appetite.
3. As gestation progresses, postprandial glucose levels steadily
increase as insulin sensitivity steadily decreases.
For glucose control it is necessary for maternal insulin
secretion to increase sufficiently to counteract the fall in
insulin sensitivity.
GDM occurs when there is insufficient insulin secretion to
counteract the pregnancy-related decrease in insulin sensitivity
Plows, J., Stanley, J., Baker, P., Reynolds, C., & Vickers, M. (2018). The Pathophysiology of Gestational Diabetes
Mellitus. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(11), 3342. doi:10.3390/ijms19113342