Gestational diabetes

Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, David Miller, MD, explains what gestational diabetes is and how it affects a pregnant mother and her baby
Gestational Diabetes: What You Need to Know
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Gestational diabetes

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What is gestational diabetes? And how does gestational diabetes differ from the diabetes that I've heard about all my life? To begin with, gestational diabetes only occurs during pregnancy. It's diagnosed by a simple screening test, followed by a confirmatory test and if it turns out that your blood glucose or your blood sugar levels are too high during pregnancy, your doctor may initially prescribe diet and exercise, and if that doesn't work, you may have to go on some medications. There are some oral medications that you can use during pregnancy, but you might have to go on insulin treatment during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes has a number of known complications during pregnancy. One of the main complications is that the baby can grow to be too big and that can lead to difficulty at the time of delivery, with the shoulders becoming entrapped and sometimes damage to the nerves of the neck or the arms. Babies who are born to women who have diabetes sometimes have difficulty with their own sugar control after they are born. If you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes it's important to make sure that you are either managed by your obstetrician and have your blood sugar controlled, or you are referred to a specialist to help your obstetrician manage diabetes throughout your pregnancy.

Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, David Miller, MD, explains what gestational diabetes is and how it affects a pregnant mother and her baby

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David Miller, MD

Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

David A. Miller, MD, is Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.  He is the Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Director of the CHLA-USC Institute for Maternal Fetal Health, a unique alliance of medical leaders from Children's Hospital Los Angeles and USC, specializing in interdisciplinary diagnosis and treatment of complex fetal abnormalities.  Dr. Miller graduated from USC, attended medical school at the University of Arkansas, did his internship and residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and came back to USC for fellowship training in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (Perinatology).  He has been a researcher, clinician and educator at USC for more than 20 years.  Dr. Miller has published extensively in the area of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and has won numerous awards and honors including Best Doctors in America from 2001-present.

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