Usually, our body breaks down much of the food we eat into a type of sugar, called glucose. Our body makes a hormone called insulin that moves glucose out of the blood and into the cells of the body. In diabetes, the glucose cannot get into the cells, so the amount of glucose in the blood gets higher and higher. This is called high blood sugar or diabetes. During pregnancy, because of hormonal changes, some women cannot utilize the sugar (glucose) in the blood as well as it should. The level of blood sugar becomes higher than normal. We call it gestational diabetes as it happens during pregnancy. Most of the time, the blood sugar returns to normal and the diabetes go away after delivery. High sugar levels in the blood can be harmful to the mother and the baby. If the diabetes is not treated, miscarriage, stillbirth (baby dies in the womb) and premature birth can occur. A more complete description of Diabetic Pregnancy can be found in a separate page in our web site.

Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) is a gynecological procedure where the cervix is dilated and the endometrium is scraped by a curette (a metal instrument). D&C is not only used in performing abortion, it is also done in

evacuating any products of conception that may remain in the uterine cavity in miscarriage, and

the diagnosis of abnormal vaginal bleeding to exclude any pathology in the uterine cavity.

Please see web page Dilatation and Curettage for further details.

Please refer to the section on D&C in Misscariage for detail answers to your question.

Down's syndrome is a condition due to a defect in the baby's chromosome. It is usually related to the age of the mother. The more elderly the pregnant mother is the higher the chances of delivering such baby. The baby usually has low mentality with a smaller head and sloping eyes (like those of Mongolian child). The nose is usually flat and the ears are set low. There may be abnormalities in the heart as well as intestinal problems. It can be diagnosed by Amniocentesis and Chorionic villus sampling.
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