Pregnant With Diabetes

Women who are pregnant with diabetes have special concerns that pregnant women without diabetes do not. For example, women who are pregnant with diabetes must watch their blood sugar carefully and keep it under control. This may require modifications to diet, exercise, or insulin amounts. A woman who is pregnant with diabetes who does not take care of herself risks serious harm to her unborn baby.

 

Pregnant With Diabetes: An Overview

Diabetes is often detected in women during their childbearing years and can affect the health of both the mother and her unborn child. Poor control of diabetes in a woman who is pregnant increases the chances for birth defects and other problems for the baby. It might also cause serious complications for the woman.
 
Proper healthcare before and during pregnancy will help prevent birth defects and other poor outcomes, such as miscarriage or stillbirth.
 

Pregnant With Diabetes: Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot use the sugars and starches (carbohydrates) it takes in as food to make energy.
 The body either makes too little insulin in the pancreas or cannot use the insulin it makes to change those sugars and starches into energy. As a result, the body collects extra sugar in the blood and gets rid of some sugar in the urine. The extra sugar in the blood can damage organs of the body, such as the heart, eyes, and kidneys, if it is allowed to collect in the body too long.
 
The three most common types of diabetes are:
 
Women who are pregnant with diabetes may have any of these three types.
 
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas makes so little insulin that the body can't use blood sugar for energy. Type 1 diabetes must be controlled with daily insulin shots.
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD