Kelly Osbourne Is Fighting Gestational Diabetes Stigma
After experiencing rapid weight gain and unusual amounts of tiredness, the daughter of Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne learned she has gestational diabetes.
Back in May, Kelly Osbourne revealed that not only she had been a year sober, but that she is expecting her first child with Slipknot’s Sid Wilson. The TV personality and daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne just revealed that she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and she doesn’t want other pregnant people who develop the condition to feel like it is their fault.
"First of all, gestational diabetes is not your fault," Osbourne said to People. "At first I thought it was something that I had done. I only got diagnosed with it well into my third trimester, so it wasn't like I developed it as some people get it from the get-go when they're pregnant. I got it in my third trimester and basically, I thought it was something that I had done wrong."
According to the CDC, gestational diabetes develops in pregnant people who do not already have diabetes. The condition occurs when a pregnant person’s body cannot make enough insulin, which regulates blood sugar level. Gestational diabetes affects 2-10% of pregnancies annually in the United States.
Osbourne first suspected something was off at the beginning of her third trimester, when she started experiencing symptoms like rapid weight gain, unusually high levels of fatigue, and ankle swelling.
"This whole pregnancy, I've had no cravings except for sugar, which is something I've never had before," explained Osbourne. "I wasn't eating right." Pregnancy cravings are no joke, but Osbourne realized she could take action regarding her diet in order to help with the gestational diabetes.
"The number one thing for me that I realized was taking me down was sugary drinks and it was juice. Because even though I was drinking fresh pressed juice, it still had a lot more sugar than I needed,” she explained. So far, she has seen a positive change in her health and she noted that cutting out a lot of sugar has made her skin glow and her energy is back up. "I just have more energy. I'm sleeping better. You don't realize what it's doing to you until you take it away is all I can say."
Still, Osbourne wants anyone expecting who also develops gestational diabetes to give themselves some grace as they navigate the diagnosis. "I wish I had this kind of incentive prior because I've never been able to stick to anything a hundred percent the way that I have been doing this because I'm not doing it for myself," Osbourne said. "I'm doing it for my baby. But I have learned — I can't even begin to tell you the changes that it's made."
