Answer to Question 1
Gestational diabetes is glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes usually develops during the second half of pregnancy, with subsequent return to normal after childbirth. Risk factors include a mother's age over 25 years, BMI over 25 or excessive weight gain, complications in previous pregnancies, including gestational diabetes or a high-birthweight infant, prediabetes or symptoms of diabetes, a family history of type 2 diabetes, and Hispanic, African American, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander ethnicity.
Answer to Question 2
Times of intense development and rapid cell division are called critical periods-critical in the sense that those cellular activities can occur only at those times. If cell division and number are limited during a critical period, full recovery is not possible. Damage during these critical times of pregnancy has permanent consequences for the life and health of the fetus. The development of each organ and tissue is most vulnerable to adverse influences (such as nutrient deficiencies or toxins) during its own critical period. It is therefore very important that women make healthy choices during this time when the fetus is most vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies, nutrient excesses, or toxins-often, this is when most women do not yet even realize they are pregnant.