Between 2 and 5 percent of all pregnant women get gestational diabetes, which is why all pregnant women should get screened for it. Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman's hormones reduce the effectiveness of her insulin, which causes high blood sugar. This happens only in pregnant women and is usually diagnosed between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. If left untreated, gestational diabetes can result in high birth weight, low blood sugar, or respiratory difficulties in your baby. There is an entire video dedicated to explaining gestational diabetes, its potential consequences, and how to manage the illness, if you'd like to learn more about the condition itself. Because gestational diabetes has no discernable symptoms, it's important that every pregnant woman screen for the illness. To screen for the condition, your doctor will perform an oral glucose intolerance test, also known as a glucose challenge test. The test requires you to drink a very sugary liquid in about five minutes. One hour later, a blood sample will be taken to determine if your glucose levels are high enough to signal the possible presence of gestational diabetes. A positive result on this test - glucose levels above 140 milligrams per deciliter - does not mean that you necessarily have gestational diabetes. What it does mean, however, is that it is likely that you do, and that you'll have to undergo another test, called a glucose tolerance test. This screening requires you to drink a larger concentration of the glucose solution, and then have your blood tested every hour for three hours. If this test comes back positive, you do have gestational diabetes and will have to adjust your pregnancy diet accordingly. Luckily, the condition is entirely controllable, and, when taken care of, will cause no harm to your baby. You can find additional information on how to manage gestational diabetes in other videos on Pregnancy Health Guru dot com.