High blood sugar after delivery with a part of placenta still in the uterus

by Tricia
(South Bend, IN)

QUESTION: Hi there,

Please help me with my confusion that i gave birth almost 4 months now which gestational diabetes pregnancy. However, i could control it by diet, not having any insulin at all, especially, my blood sugar went back very good for the last month of pregnancy (even i did not have to diet, I ate normal meals). And i found out that my blood sugar up quite high when having glucose test (postpartum check 6weeks).

I start eating diet again no sugar at all but it seems does not work, blood sugar going up much higher than before when i was pregnant, can not control.

I know that there is a part of placenta still remain in my uterus after having utrasound done twice. I'm wondering if that placenta affects my insulin so that blood sugar can be controlled?

Thank you so much in advance for your help.


ANSWER: Hi Tricia,

In purpose to make you understand what is going on with your blood glucose and what you are supposed to do to solve this problem, I will remind you few things about the gestational diabetes and the function of the placenta.

First of all, you have to know that placenta is a temporary organ in the female organism which is establishing the contact between the mother and the baby.

After the birth of the baby, the doctors are obligated to remove the placenta, because this may cause problems, like infection, abdominal pain and high blood glucose, especially in mothers with gestational diabetes.

Placenta is the organ which is sending information to the mother’s organism about the needs of the baby’s organism. That means that, when the baby is in need for more glucose, proteins and fat acids, the placenta is sending signals to the organism of the mother about the needs of the baby.

This is leading to changes in the blood circulation of the mother, followed by an elevated distribution of proteins, fat acids and glucose to the organism of the baby.

Secondly, gestational diabetes is a condition, which is occurred during pregnancy, but after delivery, this condition may be transformed into Diabetes Mellitus type 2.

Gestational diabetes is characterized by an elevation of the blood glucose, because the pancreas of the mother is not able to produce enough insulin for both organisms - the mother’s and the baby’s.

However, sometimes, when the whole placenta is not removed for the organism of the mother, the placenta may give fake signals to the organism of the mother as there is a baby which needs glucose.

The bad thing is that as there is not a baby who should use this glucose, and this is causing an elevation of your blood glucose level.

My advice for you is to consult with your gynecologist and ask him/her to remove the whole placenta from your uterus.

You should also go on monitoring your blood glucose in purpose to see if there is any improvement.

The elevation of your blood glucose maybe as a result of the placenta’s presence. If this is the exact cause, when the placenta is removed, all problems with the blood glucose are going to disappear.

As I mentioned above, gestational diabetes may be transformed in diabetes type 2. In purpose to establish this as a final diagnose, your doctor is obligate to run several glucose tests that are going to show the exact reason for the elevation of the blood glucose.

Other things that help to control your blood sugar are also a strict sugar-limited diet, or/and to start an insulin therapy. However, you should take an appointment with your endocrinologist before deciding whether to go for insulin or not as it is prescribed only by doctors.

At the end, I want to remind you to urgently ask your gynecologist to remove all the placenta as soon as possible. This will alleviate not only high blood sugar problems, but also other like infection or a bad reaction from your body.

Hope it helped!

Dr.Alba






Thank you Doctor Alba!
by: Tricia

I have nothing to say but thankful for the advices that you gave me, thousand thanks for that. I have already had a D&C removed placenta from my uterus. I feel really good now, my blood glucose has been back to normal. thanks again Doctor Alba, thanks for the website, it's helped a lot.