All we hear and read about almost often are type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

However there is one other type of diabetes that is most of the time overlooked and underestimated: type G diabetes.

gestational diabetes that is: affecting about 4% of pregnant women each year in the United States.

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs during a woman's pregnancy in her later months (usually between weeks 24-28):

When a woman is pregnant, different hormones are produced to help the baby grow. While necessary for the baby's development, these hormones also decrease the effects of insulin in the mother's body.

Insulin is needed to take one's glucose into body cells. When insulin's action is impaired, insulin resistance develops. This makes it more difficult for the mother's body to correctly absorb and utilize the glucose she consumes, and can render her to become hyperglycemic.

Read more about gestational diabetes at the American Diabetes Association and Mayo Clinic.

Source: UCSF