But medical information is always changing, and some information given here may be out of date. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor.org , the AAFP patient education Web site. Gestational diabetes is a little different from diabetes mellitus in women who are not pregnant.
Gestational diabetes can only happen during pregnancy, but it only happens to some women.
It goes away after the baby is born. Your body makes a hormone called insulin that keeps the right amount of sugar in your blood. Insulin is made in an organ called the pancreas. When you're pregnant, your body and the placenta inside your uterus both make different hormones that partly block the effect of insulin. This makes your body need more insulin.