This animation may only be used in support of a single legal proceeding and for no other purpose. Read our License Agreement for details. To license this image for other purposes, click here.
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: If you have gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, the level of sugar in your bloodstream is higher than normal. The sugar in your blood is called glucose. A hormone in your body, called insulin, acts like a key in a lock, when it attaches to receptors on your cells. The insulin opens your cells so glucose can enter them. Now your cells can use the glucose to produce the energy they need to function properly. A gland called the pancreas makes all the insulin your cells need to use glucose. The exact cause of gestational diabetes isn't known. However, the organ that attaches your baby to your uterus, called the placenta, makes hormones that may prevent insulin from letting glucose into your cells. As a result, the glucose in your blood rises above normal levels in a condition called hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is the hallmark of any type of diabetes. If your blood glucose levels are not kept in the normal range, you may develop complications, such as high blood pressure. In addition, you have an increased risk for premature birth, and cesarean birth, in which your doctor delivers your baby through an incision in your abdomen. Your baby may also be at risk for complications shortly after birth, including excessive birth weight, called macrosomia, low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, a yellow color of your baby's skin, called jaundice, and difficulty breathing. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. The goal of treating gestational diabetes is to keep your blood glucose in your normal target range. You can do this by creating a healthy eating plan with your health care provider or a registered dietitian. Physical activity and exercise can also help you keep your blood glucose level within your normal target range. Your doctor may ask you to regularly check your blood glucose level with a glucose meter. To check your blood glucose level, you will insert a test strip into your glucose meter. Then you will stick your finger, and place a drop of blood onto the test strip. The glucose meter will measure and display your blood glucose level. If you have gestational diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends the following target ranges for blood glucose level-- 95 or less before a meal, 140 or less one hour after a meal, and 120 or less two hours after a meal. Check with your doctor for your specific target range. If diet and exercise are not able to keep your blood glucose level within your normal target range, your caregiver may prescribe insulin for you, and show you how to give yourself insulin shots. You can help prevent gestational diabetes by getting pre-conceptual counseling, in which you meet with your obstetrician before you get pregnant to plan a healthy pregnancy, losing excess pounds before you get pregnant, getting regular exercise before and during your pregnancy, and eating healthy foods.
"Thank you for the wonderful illustrations. The case resulted in a defense verdict last Friday. I know [our medical expert witness] presented some challenges for you and I appreciate how you were able to work with him."
Robert F. Donnelly
Goodman Allen & Filetti, PLLC
Richmond, VA
"I would like to thank all of you at Medical Legal Art for all the
assistance you provided. It was a result of the excellent, timely work
that we were able to conclude the case successfully.
I feel very confident that our paths will cross again."
Fritz G. Faerber
Faerber & Anderson, P.C.
St. Louis, MO
"I have a medical illustration created by Medical Legal Art at the beginning
of every case to tell the client's story, usually before I depose the
defendant doctor. The work product and cost-efficiency are outstanding. It
is a situation where, as a trial lawyer, I don't leave home without it."
Rockne Onstad
Attorney at Law
Austin, TX
"For modern audiences, it is absolutely essential to use medical
demonstrative evidence to convey the severity and extent of physical
injuries to a jury. Your company's high quality illustrations of our
client's discectomy surgery, combined with strong expert testimony, allowed
the jury to fully appreciate the significance of our client's injuries.
We are very pleased with a verdict exceeding $297,000.00, far in excess of
the $20,000.00 initially offered by the defendant. The medical demonstrative
evidence provided by Medical Legal Art was an asset we could not have
afforded to have been without."
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.