Mums- to- be get alert on diabetes risk

NORTH Queensland pregnant women with gestational diabetes are being urged to seek professional support to ensure the largely preventable disease does not develop into a lifelong condition.

There are about 348 women who are pregnant and have gestational diabetes in the Townsville City Council area.

More than 1120 women in the same area have had gestational diabetes in past pregnancies.

Diabetes Queensland chief executive Sturt Eastwood said many women may not be aware that gestational diabetes puts them and their child at increased risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.

“Research has shown us that if a mum has gestational diabetes, their child is six times more likely to develop diabetes or prediabetes in later life,” Mr Eastwood said.

“We also know about half of women with gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within five to 10 years of that pregnancy.

“We need to ensure North Queensland mums and families get support after gestational diabetes.”

The growing rate of gestational diabetes is caused by factors including age of women when they are having children, a family history of type 2 diabetes, and being above the healthy weight range when women start their pregnancies.

Mr Eastwood said Queensland women who had had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy were automatically invited to join a State Government chronic disease prevention program called My Health for Life.

The program coaches women to help them eat healthier meals and increase daily physical activity.

“If you’re more than 18 years of age and had a previous history of gestational diabetes, My Health for Life might be part of the solution to help you take the steps to avoid type 2 diabetes,” Mr Eastwood said.

There are now more than 9740 people in the Townsville region with all types of diabetes.

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are lifelong conditions that need to be managed daily.

While type 2 diabetes is largely preventable and can often be managed by healthy eating and physical activity alone, type 1 diabetes is an auto- immune condition that destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age but it generally occurs in children and young adults.