Diabetes During Pregnancy

 Written by: Wahida Sabir

Diabetes during pregnancy increases the chances of birth defects and other problems for the pregnancy. It can also cause serious complications for the woman and her developing baby.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some women and physicians about this disease.

A mother from Nangarhar province says, “I am the mother of 5 children. When I was pregnant for the fifth time, suddenly my blood sugar level raised and I got diabetes; my feet got swollen and had pain and I could not walk and be suffering from high blood pressure too. I lost my baby and the doctors told me that the heart of my baby had a hole.”    

Another woman, a resident of Kabul city says, “My blood pressure and blood sugar were rising during my pregnancy but during the delivery of my last two daughters, I had more pain and had more problems during delivery.”

Doctor Zarghona Habib, a gynecologist at one of the private hospitals, Kabul city talks about this disease, “There are two types of pregnancy diabetes, the first one is pre-pregnancy diabetes and the second one is diabetes during pregnancy. If the level of sugar is more than the normal range, and the mother doesn’t control it, it is most possible to abort the baby during the first 3 months of the pregnancy. And if such women do not control their diabetes in the first two months of the pregnancy, their child might be malformed and if they do not control their blood sugar level during the last 3 months, the weight of the baby would be more than normal and the mother would suffer more pain during delivery.”

What do people think about the causes of this disease?

A mother from Laghman province says, “I do not care about my diet and I am been eating anything during my pregnancy and it causes me diabetes.”

A mother, a resident of Chaharasiab district, Kabul province says, “I am suffering from genetic diabetes. My parents developed diabetes and my uncles also suffer from this disease. I was not aware that I am also suffering from diabetes but during my pregnancy, the level of blood sugar raised but I was eating everything. When I went to a doctor and she checked my blood, she told me that the level of my blood sugar has raised.”

Doctor Zarmeena, a gynecologist at the same hospital says, “As the baby in the womb of the mother feeds from mother’s blood, if the level of blood sugar is high than the normal range, it could cause some problems to the mother and her baby. Among the defects in children born to women with diabetes are heart problems, brain and spinal defects, kidney and gastrointestinal tract defects, and limb deficiencies.”