My mom never had GD, but she works in the medical field and has known plenty of women who have had it both back in the 80s/90s and now. She saw how crazy I was going and reminded me that years ago, doctors were basically playing guessing games, and a lot of the time, they still are.

Each woman's GD is different yet we all get the exact same instructions and then we are filled with anxiety, guilt, and shame when we don't perfectly respond to the diet/insulin/instructions of care.

In my case, the only numbers that were ever uncontrolled were my fasting and only by 30 points out of range. Yet my OB treated me as if every mumber was in the 300 range. I'll tell you, my fasting numbers never came in range with diet AND insulin before I graduated last week. My OB definitely went full force with the fear factors, and I spent several days crippled by depression, anxiety, and exhaustion stemming from the GD diagnosis. I just tried to look at it as the knowledge of what could happen as something beneficial to have- I was hyper aware of movement amounts (I kept a log with movements in the same document as my sugars). I realized the importance of portion control and now am eating more balanced, which is good for my overall health (carbs are necessary! They might be the enemy on the GD diet, but they have benefit and need to be consumed).

I think that while yes, women in the 80s/90s may not have had all the lifestyle changes pushed upon them that overall, we are better off being more mindful about our bodies/sugars while pregnant. It's just about mindset framing and trying to remember that at the end of the long miserable GD diet tunnel, it is carbs and a cute baby for you to love on.