At your 24 week visit you will be approximately 6 months pregnant. This visit will be longer than your
other visits because we do gestational diabetes screening test. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that may
develop during pregnancy. It is important that gestational diabetes be detected so the mother can be treated appropriately
to assure a healthy baby.
On the day of your visit you may eat and drink before the test but you must avoid concentrated sweets such
as:
Soft drinks, fruit juices, pastries, pies, cakes, candies, sugared cereals.
When you arrive for your appointment inform the receptionist that you are scheduled for your test. You
will be given a glucose drink to drink over a 5 minute period. When you finish the drink the time will be
documented on your chart. One hour from the time you finish the drink you will have a finger stick. You will also
have your regular check up during this wait.
During pregnancy some women develop anemia. This means the iron level in your blood is low. Iron
carries the oxygen around your body, if you iron level is low you may feel very tired. We will draw your blood to test
your iron level at the same time of your sugar test. If your iron is low we will recommend an iron supplement to be
taken in addition to your prenatal vitamin.
