Normal practice is to screen every pregnant person for gestational diabetes between 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. This screening is done by asking someone to fast prior to the test(this is not a fasting test), they will be asked to drink a syrupy glucose solution (also known as glucola), they will wait an hour and then blood will be drawn to measure their blood glucose level. If someone fails this screening, they will be asked to undergo a 2 hour or 3 hour screening. If they fail again, they are diagnosed as a Gestational Diabetic and their pregnancy will be considered high risk, they will be monitored more closely and they will be more susceptible to interventions. Diagnosing gestational diabetes is important. But is the glucola test accurate?🤔 Do you have other options?🤔
📌The 1 hour glucose tolerance test is something that is done to every pregnant person without considering if they are at a higher risk for gestational diabetes or not. This means that you are not receiving individualized care, which is your right. You are being treated as though you have risk factors. ACOG supports you receiving individualized care based on your own risk factors, wants and beliefs. So who is at a higher risk for gestational diabetes?:
➖age greater than 25
➖family history of diabetes
➖overweight prior to pregnancy
➖hispanic/Latina, African-American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
➖if you have gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy
➖if you have had a stillbirth or miscarriage
➖you have had a large baby
➖if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease
⬆️IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY OF THESE FACTORS, THERE SHOULD NOT BE PRESSURE TO UNDERGO A GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST⬆️
📌What happens if you do have risk factors? Your care provider will ask you to fast prior to the test, drink glucola, wait an hour and then draw your blood. How accurate is this test? Not very accurate at all. It’s sensitivity is 76%😑. This means that among 100 people without gestational diabetes, 76 will have a negative result, and the other 24 people who do not have gestational diabetes will have a positive result😱 This is why the 1 hour test should not be used to diagnose you with gestational diabetes, but rather proceed to move forward with a 3 hour tolerance test if failed.
📌What is in the glucola drink?
➖50 grams of glucose
➖BVO (brominated vegetable oil), this is an approved flame retardant🔥and is banned in Europe in Japan, yet we let pregnant women drink it during every pregnancy. Research has found that brominated flame retardants build up in the body and milk. BVO leaves residues that accumulate in body fat, the brain, the liver, and other organs. Studies in animals demonstrate that BVO is transferred from milk to the nursing infant. BVO has been associated with heart lesions, fatty changes in the liver, and impaired growth and behavioral development, and both animal and human studies have linked BVO to neurological problems, fertility problems, changes in thyroid hormones and precocious puberty.
➖food dyes that children are more sensitive to which are linked to cancer and hyperactivity like red #40 and C yellow #6
➖modified food starch
➖dextrose
🤮🤢glucola can cause nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, and fatigue🤢🤮
📌another thing to consider is that someone who has a healthy diet could possibly be more susceptible to failing the glucose tolerance because their body is not used to high amounts of sugar. Does this necessarily make someone a gestational diabetic if they don’t normally consume bad foods?
✅What other options do you have?✅
➖you can completely opt out of any glucose testing, and take on a healthy diet for your entire pregnancy and take your own blood sugars regularly at home
➖you can eat 28 jelly beans instead of consuming the glucola for the screening. there are GMO Free and natural colored jelly beans 😃
➖eat a meal that equals 50 grams of glucose
➖do a hemoglobin A1c test in early pregnancy
