Gestational Diabetes Symptoms & Diagnosis

Your Risk

If you are at high risk, you may need glucose testing as soon as possible. If your initial test is negative, you should be retested between 24-28 weeks of gestation.

If you are at average risk, you may be given the 50-gram glucose test (see below). This is given between 24-28 weeks of gestation.

If you are at low risk, you do not need glucose testing. To be low risk, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Less than 25 years of age
• Normal weight before and during pregnancy
• Member of an ethnic group with a low risk of gestational diabetes
• No known diabetes in any siblings or parents
• No history of abnormal glucose tolerance
• No history of poor pregnancy outcomes

Screening Test

This involves:

• Drinking a liquid high in sugar
• Taking a blood sample one hour later to measure the glucose level

In some cases, a urine glucose test may be done. These are not as reliable as the blood test.

Diagnostic Test

This involves:

• A three-hour glucose-tolerance test if the initial screening test shows an above normal sugar level
• Glucose monitoring in the morning and after meals