The short explanation
Gestational diabetes usually settles after the birth because the pregnancy hormones that caused it are gone. But having had it shows that your body was under strain handling sugar, and women who had gestational diabetes have a much higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. A test some weeks after delivery checks that your sugar really has returned to normal, and regular tests after that catch any rise early. This matters because type 2 diabetes can develop slowly without symptoms for years. Finding prediabetes early gives you time to make changes that can delay or prevent diabetes.
What depends on your situation
The parts of this that change from woman to woman. Uncertainty is stated, not hidden.
- Staying active, eating balanced meals with less refined carbohydrate and sugar, and getting back towards a healthy weight after birth all lower the risk. Breastfeeding may help too.
- If you plan another pregnancy, gestational diabetes is more likely to happen again, so early testing in the next pregnancy is usually advised.
- New-mother life makes check-ups easy to forget; it can help to tie the yearly sugar test to something fixed such as your birthday or the baby's.
What this answer cannot determine
The boundary of online education. These need a clinician who can see you.
- This cannot tell you whether you will develop diabetes. Only regular blood tests over the years can show how your sugar is doing.
Questions for your clinician
Take these with you. You can add any of them to an appointment card.
- Which test should I have after delivery, and when?
- How often should I check my sugar from now on?
- What changes would lower my risk most?
- What should happen early in my next pregnancy?
When to seek help
Clinician-approved guidance for this topic. When in doubt, being seen is never the wrong choice.
Emergency — call 112 now
- Call 112 or go to the nearest emergency department if, after delivery, you have very heavy bleeding, severe headache, chest pain or breathlessness.
Book an appointment soon
- See your clinician within a few days if you have strong thirst, passing urine very often or unusual tiredness.
Raise it at a routine appointment
- Book the postnatal sugar test when advised, and then a sugar test at least yearly.
Sources
The evidence this explanation is built on.
- Gestational diabetes — treatment and after the birth NHS
- Gestational diabetes NHS
- Diabetes and pregnancy MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine)
Who wrote and reviewed this
Every AskHer answer names its author. A clinically reviewed answer also names the clinician who signed it off — if no clinician is named below, it has not been clinically reviewed.
- Author
- AskHer Editorial (AI-assisted draft) AskHer's editorial team — not an individual clinician Works in English, தமிழ், हिन्दी
- Clinical reviewer
- Nobody yet No clinician has signed this answer off, and no person on the editorial team has read it yet. That is what the “Written with AI assistance” label means. It is queued for an editor to read, and then for a clinician who works in this area. The sources it was drafted against are listed above.
- Review status
- Written with AI assistance — not yet reviewed by a person
- Last reviewed
- Not yet reviewed by a person
- Version
- 1
Correction history
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No corrections have been made since this answer was first published.
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