What is gestational diabetes?

(NewsNation) — Diabetes affects the lives of tens of millions of Americans.

Gestational diabetes is part of this total but specifically affects 5% to 9% of pregnant women in America, per the CDC.

What is gestational diabetes?

As the name suggests, it is a variant of diabetes that forms in a woman during pregnancy.

Oftentimes, it develops around the 24th week of pregnancy in cases where the body is unable to produce adequate amounts of insulin to combat increased blood sugar levels.

The increased blood sugar levels are a result of hormonal changes throughout the gestation period.

What are the symptoms?

Per the Centers for Disease Controla nd Prevention, symptoms often do not appear.

If they do exist, they are generally mild and can involve urinating more frequently than usual and be