Metformin and Pregnancy
Metformin and Pregnancy is an issue most type 2 diabetes sufferers tend to overlook due to lack of the right information.
Gestational Diabetes is a concern for many pregnant women. The problem frequently arises around week 24 of fetal development. Today, however, the effects from Metformin during pregnancy or nursing are unknown. Many doctors recommend that every pregnant mother be tested for Gestational Diabetes. One of the challenges is that elevated blood sugar during a pregnancy significantly increases your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes later in life.
It almost seems that pregnancy has the ability to teach your body how to be diabetic. Hormones produced by the placenta that are needed by the baby reduce the ability of the mother’s body to manage insulin. As a result, her system becomes insulin resistant.
Treating Gestational Diabetes can be harder than handling high blood sugar at other times. Obviously, greater concern needs to be taken for the developing baby when selecting methods to treat the problem. Current information indicates that Metformin is effective treating diabetes that develops during pregnancy. While science knows this is an effective treatment for the mother, the impact to the child is completely unknown. The ethics of conducting this type of testing are of course challenging. Without conclusive non-human tests, it’s difficult to even propose a starting point.
Today Metformin is not used to treat Gestational Diabetes for this very reason. To date it is known that Metformin can be effective for treating Gestational Diabetes. However, the impact of the medication on the fetus is unknown. At this time, Metformin is not used as treatment because no information is available indicating safety or risks.
Metformin and Pregnancy
The same is true for a nursing mother. It has been proven that Metformin is present in breast milk for mother’s using the drug treatment. Unfortunately, developing the necessary information is difficult. Obviously, putting unborn children and newborns at risk is a difficult proposition. Gestational diabetes does put your baby at risk, so this is not a situation that just be left untreated.
Treatment options for diabetes during pregnancy primarily focus on lifestyle changes.
Adjusting your diet and getting regular exercise are the best tools for managing this problem. Of course, if this isn’t enough insulin treatments may be needed during your pregnancy. Like any other part of your pregnancy, your body needs some time to return to a more typical, non-pregnant condition. So it’s unlikely that immediately after delivery you’ll be done with the diabetes treatment. This is important because doctors do know that Metformin is transmitted through breast milk. And the effects are still not known.
Today, Metformin is not used to treat Diabetes in women who are pregnant and nursing. Perhaps in the future other testing methods will develop so the impact of this medication in these situations can be safely tested and assessed.
Metformin and Pregnancy are not friends, so if you (or someone you know) is concerned with this issue, send them to this site. Thank you!
