How Does the Glucose Tolerance Test Work? Gestational Diabetes Screening Explained Plainly

The drink arrives in a small plastic bottle, very cold and very orange, and the phlebotomist says the same thing she has said a hundred times this month: “Down it in five minutes, then take a seat. I’ll call you back in an hour.” You have not eaten since last night. Your phone is at 12 percent. Somewhere behind the curtain, someone is asking whether the baby minds all this sugar.

The glucose tolerance test in pregnancy is one of the most common things done to an otherwise healthy pregnant person, and one of the least explained. It is not a pass-or-fail exam, though nearly everyone talks about it that way. It is closer to a stress test for your pancreas: a fixed challenge, a stopwatch, and a few careful measurements.

Here is what the test is actually doing, why the timing matters, what the numbers mean, and what usually happens next, drawn from mainstream guideline sources rather than the waiting-room grapevine.

How does the glucose tolerance test in pregnancy work?

Start with the two words on the label. Glucose is the simple sugar your body uses for fuel; every carbohydrate you eat is eventually broken down into it. Insulin is the hormone, made by the pancreas, that moves glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells. When insulin works well, blood sugar rises after a meal and falls back within a couple of hours. When it works poorly, sugar lingers.

Pregnancy deliberately tips this balance. The placenta produces hormones, among them human placental lactogen, progesterone and cortisol, that make the body’s tissues respond less briskly to insulin. Clinicians call this insulin resistance: the key still fits the lock, but the door opens more slowly. The design is elegant. A slightly higher stream of glucose in the mother’s blood keeps a steady supply flowing to the growing baby. Most pancreases compensate by making more insulin. Some cannot keep up, and that gap is gestational diabetes.

The glucose tolerance test finds the gap by removing guesswork. Instead of waiting to see how you respond to whatever you happened to eat for breakfast, it gives everyone the same measured amount of glucose at the same moment and then samples blood at fixed intervals. A baseline draw shows where you start. Later draws show how far the level climbs and how quickly it comes down. The Mayo Clinic describes the standard version as a fasting test followed by a sugary drink and timed samples over one to three hours.

That standardization is the entire point. A single random blood sugar tells your team very little, because it depends on what and when you last ate. A controlled load tells them something reproducible about how your metabolism is coping in the second half of pregnancy, which is the question they actually need answered.

Why is the gestational diabetes test done between 24 and 28 weeks?

The timing is not arbitrary, and it is not about convenience. Insulin resistance climbs through the second and third trimesters as the placenta grows and its hormone output rises. Test too early, and many people who will later develop gestational diabetes still look perfectly normal, because their pancreas has not yet been pushed past its limit. Test too late, and there is little time left to act before the baby’s growth pattern is set.

The 24-to-28-week window is the compromise most guidelines land on. The CDC, the NHS and the Mayo Clinic all describe routine screening in this range. By 24 weeks, the metabolic shift is far enough along to reveal a struggling pancreas. By 28 weeks, there are still roughly three months of pregnancy in which steadier blood sugar can change how the baby grows and what the birth looks like.

There are exceptions. If you have had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, the NHS advises testing much earlier, soon after your first antenatal appointment, and then again at 24 to 28 weeks if the first test is normal. The reasoning is simple: your pancreas has already shown once that it can be outpaced, and the earlier the picture is clear, the earlier the plan can begin. Some clinicians also test earlier when there is strong suspicion of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes predating the pregnancy, a different condition with a different course.

What the window does not mean is that a normal result at 26 weeks guarantees a normal result at 34. It means your body was coping on that day, at that stage. Your team may repeat testing if later signs, such as a baby measuring large on ultrasound or excess amniotic fluid, suggest the picture has changed.

One-step or two-step? The versions of the glucose test during pregnancy

Two broad approaches are in use, and which one you meet depends largely on where you live and the practice your clinic follows. Neither is a lesser test; they simply trade sensitivity against convenience in different ways.

The one-step approach is a single fasting oral glucose tolerance test. You arrive without having eaten, give a baseline sample, drink a solution containing about 75 grams of glucose, and give further samples over two hours. The NHS uses this version, with samples at baseline and at two hours.

The two-step approach, common in the United States and described by MedlinePlus and the Mayo Clinic, begins with a glucose challenge test. This first step does not require fasting: you drink a smaller glucose load and have one sample taken an hour later. If that result is above a screening cut-off, you return on another day for a longer fasting test, usually lasting three hours with four samples. Only the second test diagnoses gestational diabetes.

Feature	One-step test	Two-step: challenge	Two-step: diagnostic test
Fasting required	Yes, overnight	No	Yes, overnight
Blood samples	Two to three	One	Four
Time at clinic	About two hours	About one hour	About three hours
Purpose	Screens and diagnoses	Screens only	Diagnoses

The practical difference matters more than the technical one. With the one-step test, most people have one long morning and one answer. With the two-step approach, most people have a short visit and a normal result, while a smaller group has a second, longer appointment. Ask which version your clinic uses so you can plan fasting, childcare and work around it.

What actually happens on test day, hour by hour

The morning of a fasting glucose tolerance test tends to run on a strict clock, and knowing the rhythm makes it far less unnerving.

You arrive having had nothing to eat or drink except water. MedlinePlus advises a fast of 8 to 14 hours before the diagnostic test, so most people simply stop after an early dinner and skip breakfast. A nurse or phlebotomist draws a baseline sample, usually from a vein in the arm. This is your starting line.

Then comes the drink. It is intensely sweet, often flavored, and you are typically asked to finish it within a few minutes so the timing stays accurate. The stopwatch starts at the last swallow. From here on, you sit. Walking briskly around the building, climbing stairs or pacing in the parking lot can lower blood sugar through muscle activity and blur the result, so clinics usually ask you to stay seated and quiet. Eating, chewing gum or smoking during the wait can do the same and are also off the table.

At each scheduled interval, another sample is taken. For the NHS version that is the two-hour mark; for the US three-hour test, samples come at one, two and three hours. Between draws, the most useful thing you can bring is something to do: a book, headphones, a charger. Many people also pack a snack for the moment the final tube is capped, because two or three hours of fasting plus a sugar spike and dip can leave you hungry and a little wobbly.

Once the last sample is drawn, you are free to go. Results go to your care team, who will contact you with the outcome and, if needed, the next step. Nothing about the test itself requires recovery, though a proper meal soon afterward is sensible.

What to eat before the glucose test, and what to skip

This is the question that fills forums, and the honest answer is less dramatic than the folklore. The goal of preparation is not to trick the test. It is to show your team how your body handles sugar under ordinary conditions.

In the days before, eat normally. MedlinePlus is explicit on this point: keep your usual diet rather than restricting carbohydrates, because sharply cutting carbs for several days can change how your body responds to the glucose load and produce a misleading result. Crash-dieting before the test does not make you healthier; it makes the picture less accurate.

For the fasting versions, the rule is straightforward. Nothing to eat or drink other than water for the period your clinic specifies, typically within the 8-to-14-hour range MedlinePlus describes. That means no coffee, no tea, no juice, no mints. Plain water is not only allowed but encouraged; being well hydrated makes veins easier to find.

For the non-fasting one-hour challenge used in the two-step approach, some clinics let you eat normally beforehand while others ask you to avoid a heavy or very sugary meal in the hours before. Follow the instructions you are given, because the screening cut-off was set with a particular protocol in mind.

Medicines and supplements deserve a mention. Some can affect blood sugar readings. Do not stop or skip anything on your own; instead, tell the team what you take when the test is booked so they can advise. The same goes for illness. If you wake up with a stomach bug or a fever on test day, call before you go, since acute illness can push glucose up and the test may be better rescheduled.

Who is usually offered the glucose tolerance test in pregnancy, and who is tested differently

Practice differs between countries, and it helps to know which model your clinic follows.

In the United States, screening is generally offered to everyone during pregnancy, as the CDC and the Mayo Clinic describe. The reasoning is that gestational diabetes affects between 2 and 10 percent of US pregnancies each year according to the CDC, and a meaningful share of those affected have no obvious risk factors.

The NHS takes a risk-based approach. There, the oral glucose tolerance test is offered when one or more of the following apply: a body mass index above 30, a previous baby weighing 4.5 kilograms or more at birth, gestational diabetes in an earlier pregnancy, a parent or sibling with diabetes, or a family background that carries higher risk, including South Asian, Black, African-Caribbean or Middle Eastern heritage. People without these factors are not routinely tested under that system, though clinicians can still order the test if something in the pregnancy raises concern.

Some people are tested earlier rather than later. A history of gestational diabetes prompts early testing under NHS guidance, with a repeat at 24 to 28 weeks if the first result is normal.

Others are not tested this way at all. If you already have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you do not need a glucose tolerance test; your existing condition is managed through pregnancy by a specialist team. People who have had certain kinds of weight-loss surgery may find the concentrated glucose drink hard to tolerate, and their clinicians sometimes prefer a period of home blood-sugar monitoring instead. And if you are acutely unwell, the test is usually postponed rather than performed on a bad day.

Whatever model applies to you, the decision to test, when, and with which version sits with your care team, informed by your history.

How are the results read, and what do the numbers mean?

Each blood sample produces a number: the concentration of glucose in your blood at that moment. Your team compares those numbers with thresholds set by the guideline their service follows. The thresholds differ between the one-step and two-step approaches, which is one reason a friend’s result from another clinic is not a useful comparison to your own.

Under the NHS version of the one-step test, gestational diabetes is diagnosed if the fasting level is 5.6 millimoles per liter or higher, or if the two-hour level is 7.8 millimoles per liter or higher. A single value above either threshold is enough. US laboratories report glucose in different units and, with the two-step approach, commonly require two or more elevated values on the three-hour test before making the diagnosis, as MedlinePlus describes. Your team will interpret your report in the units and against the cut-offs their protocol uses.

Two features of these numbers are worth understanding. First, they are population thresholds, not cliffs. A result just above a line and a result just below it describe very similar metabolisms; the line exists because clinicians need a consistent point at which to begin extra monitoring. Second, the fasting value and the post-drink values tell slightly different stories. A high fasting number suggests the liver is releasing glucose overnight faster than insulin can restrain it. A high post-drink number suggests the pancreas cannot mount a large enough response to a sudden load. Some people show one pattern, some the other, and the distinction can shape the plan.

A normal result means your body coped with a standardized challenge at that point in pregnancy. It is reassuring, and it is not a lifetime guarantee. Your team may still revisit the question if later signs suggest a change.

What happens if the one hour glucose test in pregnancy comes back high?

If your clinic uses the two-step approach and your one-hour glucose challenge result sits above the screening cut-off, the next step is almost always the longer fasting test, not a diagnosis. This distinction is the single most misunderstood part of the whole process.

A screening test is designed to cast a wide net. Its cut-off is deliberately set low enough that very few people with gestational diabetes slip through, which means it also flags a good number of people who turn out to be fine on the diagnostic test. MedlinePlus describes the sequence plainly: an abnormal challenge result leads to a three-hour glucose tolerance test, and only that second test confirms or rules out the condition. Being called back is a signal to look more closely, not a verdict.

The three-hour test follows the same logic as the shorter one but with a larger glucose load and four samples: fasting, then one, two and three hours after the drink. Preparation is the same overnight fast, and the wait is longer, so plan for a full morning. Because the load is larger, nausea is somewhat more common, and clinics generally ask you to tell them if you vomit, since a partial dose invalidates the result and the test is usually rescheduled.

Occasionally a very high one-hour value leads a clinician to skip the second test and treat the result as diagnostic; the Mayo Clinic notes this practice. When that happens, your team will explain why.

Emotionally, the gap between the call-back and the second result can be the hardest stretch. It helps to remember what the first test can and cannot say. It says your body sent a signal worth checking. It does not say you have done anything wrong, and it does not, by itself, say you have gestational diabetes.

What the following days and weeks usually look like after a diagnosis

A diagnosis changes the texture of pregnancy more than its direction. The baby is still growing; the appointments simply become more frequent and more focused.

In the first days, most people are put in touch with a specialist team, often including a midwife or nurse with diabetes training and a dietitian. The NHS describes this as the point where you are shown how to check your own blood sugar at home, typically with a finger-prick meter that reads a drop of blood from your fingertip. You will be given target ranges and asked to record readings at set times, such as before breakfast and after meals. The numbers you collect become the basis for every later decision, so the first week is largely about learning the routine.

The dietitian visit usually comes early too. The conversation is not about eating less; it is about spreading carbohydrate more evenly, favoring slower-releasing choices, and pairing them with protein and fiber so the post-meal rise is gentler. Regular movement, even a walk after eating, helps muscles draw glucose out of the blood.

Over the following weeks, expect more scans. The NHS notes that extra ultrasounds are used to track the baby’s growth and the amount of amniotic fluid, because sustained high maternal glucose can lead to a larger baby. Appointments with the diabetes and antenatal teams typically become more frequent than the standard schedule.

Toward the end of pregnancy, the team will discuss timing and place of birth. Under NHS guidance, people with gestational diabetes are usually advised to give birth no later than around 40 weeks and 6 days, and earlier if blood sugar has been hard to control or the baby is large. Those conversations belong to you and your team together, informed by your readings and scans.

How is gestational diabetes managed, and where do medicines fit?

The first tools are food and movement, and for a large share of people they are the only tools needed. The NHS describes changes to eating and increased physical activity as the starting point, with medicine added when readings stay above target despite those changes.

If medicine is needed, two kinds are commonly discussed. One is metformin, a tablet that works mainly by reducing the amount of glucose the liver releases and by helping muscle and fat tissue respond more readily to the insulin you already make. The other is insulin itself, given by injection, which directly supplies what a stretched pancreas cannot. Insulin does not cross the placenta in meaningful amounts, which is one reason clinicians have long been comfortable using it in pregnancy. Some services use one, some the other, some both, and the choice depends on your readings, your fasting versus post-meal pattern, your preferences and your team’s protocol.

Whether you start a medicine, which one, and how it is adjusted are decisions for the prescribing clinician, guided by the home readings you collect. Needing medicine is not a failure of willpower. It reflects how far the placenta has pushed insulin resistance in your particular pregnancy, a biological variable you do not control.

Two facts from the NHS are worth holding onto. First, gestational diabetes usually resolves after the birth, because the placental hormones that drove it are gone once the placenta is delivered. Medicines started during pregnancy are commonly stopped soon after birth under the team’s guidance, not on your own. Second, the condition raises the long-term likelihood of type 2 diabetes, which is why follow-up after the birth matters and is covered later in this article.

Risks, discomforts and alternatives to the glucose drink

The test is safe for you and for the baby. The glucose load is a one-time event, and a healthy pregnancy handles it without difficulty. What the test is not is pleasant, and it is fair to know why.

The most common complaints are the ones MedlinePlus lists: nausea, sweating, lightheadedness and a general sense of being unwell during the wait. These come partly from the sudden sugar surge and partly from fasting. Some people feel shaky toward the end as their glucose falls back. A small number vomit; if that happens before the final sample, the result cannot be relied on and the test is usually repeated on another day. Sipping water slowly and staying seated helps most people through.

Blood draws carry their usual minor risks: a little soreness, a bruise, rarely faintness. Tell the phlebotomist if you have fainted with blood tests before so you can be positioned lying down.

Alternatives are limited, and it is better to be honest about that than to hint otherwise. The A1C test, which reflects average blood sugar over roughly the previous two to three months, is not used to diagnose gestational diabetes in mainstream guidance because pregnancy changes red blood cell turnover and the test cannot capture the rapid metabolic shift of the second trimester. Random or fasting blood sugar alone lacks the standardization that makes the tolerance test meaningful.

For people who genuinely cannot tolerate the drink, whether because of severe nausea or previous stomach surgery, some clinicians use a period of home finger-prick monitoring across ordinary meals as a substitute. That is a judgment call for your team, weighing the risk of missing a diagnosis against the practicalities. Declining the test altogether is your right, and it is a decision worth making with full information about what it forgoes.

What people often get wrong about the glucose tolerance test in pregnancy

Myths cluster around this test more than almost any other part of prenatal care. A few deserve correcting.

“I failed the test.” The language is everywhere and it is wrong. A result above threshold is a measurement of how the placenta’s hormones are interacting with your pancreas. You did not study insufficiently. Nothing you ate the week before caused it.

“A doughnut for breakfast ruined my result.” For the fasting tests, eating beforehand invalidates the test, which is why the fast is required. For the non-fasting challenge, a heavy sugary meal shortly before can nudge the one-hour value up and lead to a call-back, but the diagnostic test that follows is fasting, so a false alarm is caught there. No breakfast creates gestational diabetes where none exists.

“Only people with higher weight get it.” Weight is one risk factor among several. Family history, age, ethnicity and a previous large baby all matter, and the CDC notes that gestational diabetes can occur without any of them. Plenty of people at every body size receive the diagnosis.

“The sugar drink harms the baby.” It does not. The baby experiences a brief rise in glucose and a return to baseline, no different in kind from the effect of a large dessert.

“Once you have it, you have diabetes for life.” The NHS states that gestational diabetes usually goes away after the birth. What persists is a higher long-term risk of type 2 diabetes, which is a reason for follow-up, not a sentence.

“Skipping the test is the safe choice because the result would only cause stress.” Untreated gestational diabetes carries real consequences for the baby’s growth and the birth. Knowing gives you and your team something to act on; not knowing removes that option.

Questions to ask your care team

A good consultation is a two-way exchange, and the glucose test raises more questions than most people think to ask in the moment. Consider bringing a few of these, written down, to the appointment where the test is booked or the result is discussed.

• Which version of the test does this clinic use, and how long should I plan to be here?
• Do I need to fast, and for exactly how many hours? Is plain water allowed?
• Are there any medicines or supplements I take that could affect the result, and what should I do about them on the day?
• If I am ill on the morning of the test, should I come in or reschedule?
• How and when will I hear the result, and who will call me?
• If the one-hour screening result is high, what happens next and how soon?
• If gestational diabetes is confirmed, who will be on my team, and when will I first meet them?
• What blood sugar targets will you ask me to aim for at home, and how often should I check?
• What signs during the rest of the pregnancy should make me contact you straight away?
• How will this change the plan for the birth, including timing and where I deliver?
• What follow-up testing will I need after the baby is born, and who arranges it?

It also helps to ask for written information or a link to your clinic’s own leaflet, because details such as fasting times and contact numbers are easier to check on paper than to recall from a conversation. If English is not your first language, ask whether an interpreter can be booked for the results appointment. None of these questions is unusual, and a team that runs this test every week will have heard all of them before.

After the birth: the follow-up check most people forget

The placenta is delivered, the hormones that drove insulin resistance fall away, and for most people blood sugar returns to normal within days. It is easy, in the fog of a newborn, to assume the story is over. Two pieces of follow-up matter, one for the baby and one for you.

For the baby, the NHS describes a blood sugar check within a few hours of birth. Babies who have grown in a higher-glucose environment may produce extra insulin of their own, and once the maternal supply stops they can dip low. Early and frequent feeding is the usual first response, with monitoring until levels are stable. Most babies need nothing more.

For you, the NHS recommends a blood test to check for diabetes 6 to 13 weeks after giving birth, because a small number of people turn out to have type 2 diabetes that was first revealed, rather than caused, by pregnancy. If that test is normal, the advice is an annual check thereafter. The reason is stark and worth knowing: the CDC reports that about half of women who have had gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. That figure is a reason for vigilance, not alarm. Regular physical activity, balanced eating and maintaining a stable weight after pregnancy are the levers most consistently associated with lower risk, and breastfeeding, where it is possible and wanted, appears to help as well.

Your team should tell you before you leave the hospital how the postnatal test will be arranged. If nobody mentions it, ask. Of everything in this article, this is the step that most often falls through the cracks, and it is the one with the longest reach into your own health.

When to call your doctor

Most of the glucose tolerance test and the weeks that follow are routine. A few situations are not, and they warrant a same-day call to your midwife, obstetric team or the number on your antenatal notes rather than waiting for the next appointment.

During or just after the test, seek help if you faint, cannot stop vomiting, or feel severely dizzy, confused or short of breath. Staff at the clinic can assess you on the spot.

Later in pregnancy, whether or not you have been diagnosed, contact your team promptly for any of the following: a severe headache that does not ease, changes in vision such as flashing lights or blurring, sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet, or pain just under the ribs on the right side. These can be signs of preeclampsia, a blood pressure condition of pregnancy that is more common with gestational diabetes and needs urgent assessment.

Call as well if you notice a marked change in the baby’s pattern of movement, particularly a reduction, at any stage after movements have become familiar. Do not wait until the morning.

If you have been diagnosed and are checking sugars at home, contact your team the same day for readings that are persistently far above your target, for extreme thirst with very frequent urination, or, if you use insulin, for episodes of shakiness, sweating, confusion or sudden drowsiness that suggest blood sugar has dropped too low. Bring your meter or your readings to any assessment.

Finally, if you develop a fever, vomiting or diarrhea that stops you eating normally, ring for advice, because illness can push glucose in either direction. When in doubt, the rule your team will give you is the right one: call. Nobody on a maternity line will think a question about these signs is a waste of their time.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the glucose tolerance test in pregnancy take?

Plan for one to three hours at the clinic depending on the version. The non-fasting one-hour challenge used in the US two-step approach takes about an hour. The fasting oral glucose tolerance test used by the NHS runs about two hours, and the US three-hour diagnostic test runs about three. Arrival, the baseline draw and the drink add a few minutes, so allow a full morning for the longer versions.

Can I drink water before the gestational diabetes test?

Yes, plain water is allowed and encouraged during the fasting period and the wait. MedlinePlus describes the fast as nothing to eat or drink other than water for 8 to 14 hours before the diagnostic test. Water does not raise blood sugar, and being well hydrated makes veins easier to access. Coffee, tea, juice, flavored water, gum and mints all break the fast and should be avoided.

What should I eat before the glucose test the night before?

Eat a normal, balanced dinner and then begin your fast at the time your clinic specifies. There is no special meal that improves the result. MedlinePlus advises keeping your usual diet for several days beforehand rather than cutting carbohydrates, because restricting them can alter your response to the glucose drink and produce a misleading picture. A typical evening meal followed by an overnight fast is exactly what the test is designed around.

Is the one hour glucose test in pregnancy the same as a diagnosis?

No. The one-hour test is a screening step. A result above its cut-off means you are asked back for a longer fasting test, usually lasting three hours, and only that second test confirms or rules out gestational diabetes. Screening cut-offs are set deliberately low to avoid missing cases, so many people who are called back have a normal diagnostic result. Occasionally a very high one-hour value is treated as diagnostic; your team will explain if so.

Does the glucose drink harm the baby?

No. The drink produces a short, controlled rise in your blood sugar that returns to baseline within hours, comparable in kind to the effect of a large dessert. The test has been used across pregnancy care for decades, and mainstream sources including the Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus describe it as safe. The discomfort, such as nausea or lightheadedness, is experienced by the parent, not the baby.

Why do I feel sick or shaky during the glucose test?

Nausea, sweating and lightheadedness are common and listed by MedlinePlus as expected side effects. They come from a rapid sugar surge on an empty stomach, followed in some people by a dip as insulin brings glucose back down. Sitting quietly and sipping water usually helps. If you vomit before the final sample, tell staff, because a partial dose invalidates the result and the test is typically rescheduled.

What are the thresholds for a gestational diabetes diagnosis?

Thresholds depend on the guideline your clinic follows. Under the NHS one-step test, gestational diabetes is diagnosed if the fasting level is 5.6 millimoles per liter or higher, or the two-hour level is 7.8 or higher. US laboratories report different units and, with the two-step approach, usually require two or more elevated values on the three-hour test. Your care team interprets your report against the cut-offs their protocol uses.

Can gestational diabetes be picked up without the glucose drink?

Reliable alternatives are limited. The A1C test is not used to diagnose gestational diabetes in mainstream guidance because pregnancy changes red blood cell turnover and it cannot track the rapid second-trimester shift. For people who cannot tolerate the drink, some clinicians substitute a period of home finger-prick monitoring across ordinary meals. That is a decision for your team, weighing practicality against the risk of missing a diagnosis.

Will I need medicine if I am diagnosed with gestational diabetes?

Not necessarily. The NHS describes changes to eating and increased physical activity as the first approach, with medicine added only if home readings stay above target. When medicine is needed, metformin or insulin are the options most commonly discussed; metformin reduces glucose released by the liver and improves insulin sensitivity, while insulin directly supplies what the pancreas cannot. Whether, which and how are decisions for the prescribing clinician based on your readings.

Does gestational diabetes go away after the baby is born?

Usually, yes. The NHS states that gestational diabetes typically resolves after birth because the placental hormones driving insulin resistance disappear once the placenta is delivered. What remains is a higher long-term risk of type 2 diabetes; the CDC reports that about half of women affected go on to develop it. That is why a blood test 6 to 13 weeks after birth, followed by yearly checks, is recommended.

References

• NHS: Gestational diabetes
• CDC: About Gestational Diabetes
• MedlinePlus: Glucose screening tests during pregnancy
• Cleveland Clinic: Gestational Diabetes

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.