Gestational diabetes: How exercise affects blood glucose levels

The goal of managing gestational diabetes is to keep your blood glucose levels within a normal range for pregnancy. Food, physical activity and stress all affect your blood glucose level and the health of you and your baby.

Physical activity and blood glucose

Exercise is good for most pregnant women. Exercise helps insulin work better and can help control your blood glucose level. In addition, exercise:

• maintains your strength and pre-pregnancy conditioning
• helps you feel well during pregnancy
• improves your tolerance to labor and delivery
• helps you recover after delivery.

Check with your health care provider before starting an exercise program or before adding to your exercise routine.

Your health care provider may advise you to not exercise if you:

• have preterm labor
• are carrying twins (or more)
• experience vaginal bleeding
• have elevated (raised) blood pressure

Exercise routine

Exercise for 20 to 30 minutes, four to seven days a week or exercise for 10 minutes after every meal.

Your exercise should be light to moderate, keeping your heart rate under 140 beats per minutes (23 beats in 10 seconds) during exercise.

• Choose an exercise with a repeated movement, such as walking, water exercise, swimming, or arm cranking with an arm ergometer.
• Avoid exercises that are new to you.
• Don't be too ambitious at first. Set a modest goal that you can truly keep, and gradually build up, if your health care provider agrees.
• Wear loose-fitting clothing.
• Drink lots of water before, during and after exercising.
• Avoid exercise that requires balance -- your center of gravity will keep shifting!
• Don't choose strenuous, high impact or contact exercises. Pregnancy softens your cartilage, so you might hurt your joints with jarring exercises.
• Stop when your tired. Don't over-exercise to the point of exhaustion
• Stop if you have cramping or contractions.
• After your first trimester, don't exercise lying on your back.
• Exercise during the cooler hours of the day in the summer.

Tips for Mom

Walking for 10 to 15 minutes after every meal may help control your blood glucose. If you are able to do this, count it as your exercise, not as an addition to your exercise plan.

You should be able to carry on a conversation during exercise. If you can't talk, slow down the pace.

Since hypoglycemia can occur during exercise if you're taking insulin injections, carry a fast-acting sugar with you, like glucose tablets or Lifesaver candies.

When to call your health care provider

Call your health care provider or diabetes educator if you have unexplained hypoglycemia often (two times in one day or two days in a week).]

Related Links

Insulin and exercise

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

How stress affects blood glucose levels

How food affects blood glucose levels

Allina Pregnancy Care

First published: 11/27/2006
Last updated: 11/27/2006

Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts