For the past several years, Chennai-based senior diabetologist V. Seshiah has been advocating that women should be tested by the eighth week of pregnancy for blood glucose levels. If their HbA1C is over 5.3, it predicts gestational diabetes mellitus, Dr. Seshiah has maintained.
A postprandial test result of over 110mg/dl should trigger an alarm, he said.
Foetal beta cells begin secreting insulin around 10-11 weeks (about two-and-a-half months). With foetal secretion, changes in maternal metabolism start. “This is why blood glucose must be brought to less than 110mg/dl,” he explained.
