Usually not.
However, you are more at risk of developing diabetes later in your life.
Sugar is controlled by insulin. When insulin is produced, sugar is “digested” and decreases in the blood. However, during pregnancy, the body becomes less and less sensitive to insulin, so the sugar level remains high in the blood.
Hormones secreted by the placenta, among others, decrease the body’s sensitivity to insulin by “blocking” it during pregnancy. It is therefore expected, after delivery, that the level of sugar in the blood become normal again.
Weight gain can also affect how the body reacts to insulin. For example, if there is an excessive increase in body fat during pregnancy, the female body will struggle to manage sugar.
Women who have had gestational diabetes appear to have insulin resistance that increases over time, which can lead to type 2 diabetes or to a recurrent gestational diabetes at a subsequent pregnancy.
It is estimated that women who have had gestational diabetes are at least seven times more at risk of developing diabetes in their lifetime.
