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Gestational Diabetes

Kate
  • Updated

Care Program Overview

Welcome to Glooko’s Gestational Diabetes care program. Your care team assigned this care program to you so that you can have easy access to educational resources relating to gestational diabetes (GDM) and best practices for using Glooko to help with managing GDM. 

Let's learn about:

 

How to use Glooko

Glooko is a digital health solution that helps people with diabetes centralize their diabetes data, gain insights from their data, and share their data with their care team. Your care team already uses Glooko to help provide you diabetes care and is inviting you to use Glooko at home. 

 

Below is a quick start checklist on how Glooko can be used for managing Gestational Diabetes. Glooko has lots of functionality - this is just a start! 

 

  • Sync your blood glucose meter with Glooko. Learn how by clicking ‘Sync’ and then ‘New Device’ within the Glooko mobile app or use this online guide.
  • Set up a reminder to sync your blood glucose meter to Glooko by setting up a custom reminder. We recommend at least once per week. 
  • Use Glooko’s food logging feature to log what you eat on a daily basis. If you can’t do this daily, set up a reminder to do so 3 days a week so that your clinician can understand how your diet impacts your diabetes. How to log food.
  • Set up a daily reminder for taking your medication and/or insulin. How to set up reminders. 
  • Connect your activity data from Apple Health, Fitbit or other apps. Learn how.
  • Review your data weekly on the Glooko app or Glooko website. Share your data with your care team using the Glooko PDF report function if you need clinical advice. Learn how.

 

 

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational Diabetes (GDM) affects millions of expecting women and nearly 10% of pregnancies in the U.S. As hormones change during pregnancy, insulin resistance can develop and impact how your body uses sugar (glucose). It can often cause high blood sugar and if untreated, GDM can affect your health and your baby’s health (for more information, visit ADA).

 

With Glooko’s Care Program for Gestational Diabetes, you will work with your care team to come up with a plan to successfully manage your GDM and stay on track with a healthy pregnancy for you and your baby. Successfully managing gestational diabetes often consists of: 

  • Monitoring your blood sugar 
  • Healthy eating
  • Staying active 
  • In some cases, medication management 
  • Post-pregnancy surveillance 


Monitoring your blood sugar

Your blood sugar levels can be affected by what you eat, physical activity, and medications. Getting comfortable with checking your blood sugar on a daily basis will help you keep your sugars at the recommended levels. 

 

Your care team will determine how often and when to check your blood sugar and what your specific target levels should be. For example, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) both suggest the following target levels for women with GDM: 

  • Before a meal: 95mg/dL or less
  • One hour after a meal: 140 mg/dL or less
  • Two hours after a meal: 120 mg/dL or less

 

Glooko Pro Tip: Using Glooko helps you keep track of your blood sugar levels and allows your care team to view your progress without the need for an in-office clinic appointment. 

  • You can easily sync your blood glucose meter with Glooko. Learn how by clicking ‘Sync’ and then ‘New Device’ within the Glooko mobile app or use this online guide. Syncing allows you go back and see your levels at any time and provides insights on how well you are managing your GDM. Your care team will also be able to view your levels at any time and ensure you stay on track with your goals.

 


Healthy Eating

What you eat, and especially carbohydrates, can affect your blood sugar tremendously. Eating a balanced diet will help you keep your blood sugar levels within the recommended range. 

Your care team will work with you to determine the best personalized meal plan for your success. For example, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends:

  • eating a variety of foods that include fruits and vegetables
  • watching your portions
  • and keeping your fat intake to less than 30% of daily calories

 

Glooko Pro Tip: You can keep track of your meals and carbs by logging everything you eat in the Glooko app. As you do, you will find out how each of your meals and snacks affects your blood sugar levels. At the same time, your care team will be able to view your foods remotely and help keep track of your diet goals. 

Glooko’s mobile app allows you to track your food by using voice-enabled food add, barcode scanning or by manually entering the data.

 


Staying Active

Staying active helps you reach and maintain your recommended blood sugar levels, and helps your body use blood sugar without the need for insulin. For example, taking a 15 to 20 minute walk can lower your blood sugar by 20 to 40 mg/dL (AADE reference). Your care team will help determine the right amount of exercise for your goals and based on your fitness level and any pregnancy-related risks.

Glooko Pro Tip: Glooko makes it easy for you and your care team to keep track of your activity by logging your exercise in the app. 

  • If you have a fitness tracker (such as a Fitbit) or use a health app, you can connect your device with Glooko and have all your exercise data automatically sync right into the Glooko app, without the need for manual logging.

 


Medication Management

Sometimes, if your blood sugar levels are not on target despite nutrition and increased exercise, your care team may prescribe medication and/or insulin to help you stay on track.

 

Glooko Pro Tip: By adding your medication and insulin doses into the Glooko app, you will be able to share all of that information with your care team and keep track of it yourself. See how.

 


Post-pregnancy Surveillance

Women with a history of gestational diabetes can be at risk of progressing to Type 2 diabetes post-pregnancy. For this reason, your care team may keep monitoring your blood sugar levels  post-pregnancy and ask you to receive postpartum screening for Type 2 diabetes. 

 

 

 

Have Questions or Need Help?

Contact your care team if you have questions about:

  • Your blood sugar numbers -- for example, if they are low or consistently high
  • If you aren’t feeling well
  • If you aren’t sure how to take your medicine
  • What you should eat
  • How often you should exercise
  • Any pregnancy-related questions

Visit Glooko’s Help Center or Contact Glooko by emailing support@glooko.com if you have questions about:

  • How to sync your diabetes device
  • Errors syncing your diabetes device(s)
  • Questions about how to use Glooko to track food, exercise, medication, or notes
  • Issues with your Glooko reminders

 


Educational Resources:

 

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