Gestational Diabetes During Stressful Times: What You Need to Know

Gestational Diabetes (GDM) is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy and can have significant implications for both the mother and the developing fetus. Balancing sugar levels in gestational diabetes is challenging and involves medical advice, nutritional guidance, self-monitoring of glucose levels, and more. Now, let's add the emotional aspect we've all been experiencing lately - stress and mental pressure.

Recent studies point to a connection between the development and management of sugar levels in gestational diabetes and stress conditions. This link involves various mechanisms and reasons such as hormonal changes, inflammatory body responses, and of course, behavioral changes like overeating, consuming "comfort" foods, reduced physical activity, decreased motivation, and more.

All these add to the existing challenge of balancing sugar levels during pregnancy. Here are 7 simple and effective tips for balancing sugar levels in gestational diabetes:

1. Reduced-Carbohydrate Diet - The natural tendency in this situation is to stop eating carbohydrates, as they raise sugar levels. There are various low-carb diets for diabetes management. Remember, you have gestational diabetes, and the rules are different. You need to consume 175 grams of carbohydrates per day to allow proper fetal development.

2. Maintain Small Meals Throughout the Day - To achieve the recommended daily carbohydrate intake without raising your blood sugar too much, you should distribute carbohydrate consumption throughout the day, eating a small carbohydrate-containing meal every 2-3 hours.

3. Incorporate High-Fiber Foods - Ensure the inclusion of additional food components that don't contribute to high sugar levels but increase satiety, like fats, avocados, tahini, nuts, almonds, and proteins like cheese, eggs, fish, chicken, and of course - vegetables.

4. Monitor Sugar Levels - This is essentially how you know if your sugar is balanced throughout the day. Measure sugar levels using a home glucose meter every morning fasting, immediately upon waking, and one hour after each meal. Normal sugar levels should be fasting up to 90 mg/dL and up to 130 mg/dL an hour after meals. Many women fear measuring sugar levels by finger prick. Today, there are devices that continuously measure sugar levels using a sensor attached to the arm. The sugar level results are transmitted every minute to a mobile phone (or a dedicated reader if there's no smartphone) without requiring finger pricking. This continuous glucose monitor is subsidized by the health basket for women with gestational diabetes treated with insulin, as well as for all women with gestational diabetes at the Meuhedet Health Fund, from diagnosis to birth.

5. Keep an Organized Record - Maintain a record of daily sugar levels and meal compositions. This allows you to see which meals lead to normal sugar levels and which ones lead to undesirable high sugar levels. Keep these records and bring them to your appointments with the doctor and dietitian.

6. Physical Activity - Helps improve the body's insulin sensitivity and improve sugar levels. Overall - physical activity boosts mood and can reduce stress levels. Try to incorporate moderate physical activity daily (with medical approval).

Surround yourself with activities, family, friends, and things that make you feel good. All these are always important but especially important during this period. Wishing you an easy birth with a healthy baby, and quiet and safe days for us all.

Maya Leron Hirsch is a clinical dietitian specializing in diabetes treatment.