Diabetes is an illness that affects Latinos especially. During pregnancy, there is a similar illness, known as gestational diabetes that is also more common amongst Latinas. To make sure there is no gestational diabetes, or to take the necessary steps if need be, the glucose test is carried out.  

What is the glucose test?

This test measures the sugar in your blood, in order to find out whether your body is processing what you eat efficiently or not. During pregnancy, a series of hormones are produced that may interfere with the functioning of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that enables cells to use the food you eat and to have the energy to continue carrying out their functions.

Throughout pregnancy, your doctor should have checked that there was no sugar in your urine, in the samples that are requested in every prenatal appointment. In the case of Latinas, it is even more important to get checked, due to our increased risk of having gestational diabetes.

The glucose test is done between weeks 24 and 28 of pregnancy and if the results indicate there is a problem with the processing of sugar, then the doctor will request a similar test, but longer in time, that is known as the glucose curve.  

What the test involves

It is a very simple test that is not too uncomfortable. You must go to your appointment on an empty stomach. When you arrive, they will give you a very sweet drink that tastes like orange soda, but a lot sweeter. It contains 50 grams of glucose, and is designed to see how your body handles high levels of sugar. The nurses will make a note of the time at which you drank the sugary drink and will ask you to come back in an hour.

During that hour, try to remain seated in case you get dizzy. After this time, they will draw blood in order to check your blood-sugar levels. You will get the results a few days later and if they are not within the normal range, then your doctor will probably want you do undergo the glucose curve.

The blood sugar value that is considered normal for a pregnant woman in these weeks is of 140 ml/dL, but take into account that this figure could vary depending on the hospital or lab that does your blood work.

The glucose curve

It is very similar to the previous test, but it requires a longer time. You will also have to go to your appointment on an empty stomach and spend some time at the doctor’s office or lab, so you should request the earliest possible appointment.

When you arrive, they will draw blood to have a reference of what your glucose level was on an empty stomach. Then you will be asked to drink a sugary drink, similar to the one used in the glucose test, but with twice the amount of sugar. After that you will have to wait for three hours, during which blood will be drawn in order to see how your body is processing the glucose.

The figures obtained are compared with a normal scale to check if you have gestational diabetes or not. Not all the figures may be outside the normal range, which would indicate that you have a tendency to have difficulties when it comes to processing blood sugar, but that you have not yet developed gestational diabetes.