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Diabetes and Conception

Healthy Conception for Diabetics Is All in the Planning

By Phyllis Ring

Mothers with either preexisting or gestational diabetes can tend to have larger babies when their high blood-sugar levels constantly feed their child glucose through the placenta. Babies respond with increased growth, much of it stored as fat, and eventually develop high insulin levels of their own. This can lead to another potential infant risk – severe postpartum hypoglycemia – when a baby's insulin levels remain high following birth and the mother's glucose can no longer counteract them.

For the mother, poorly controlled diabetes also increases the risk for miscarriage in the early weeks, with the rate about twice as high for women with uncontrolled diabetes. Other possible complications of diabetes itself, such as neuropathy and retinopathy, can worsen in pregnancy if there is poor sugar control. "During my first pregnancy, I was sent to an eye specialist during and after, just to make sure that there was no damage to the blood vessels," says Christine Bleackley of Aylmer, Quebec.

Take Control

• Reach their near-ideal body weight.
• Follow a diet that provides good sugar control.
• Avoid hyper- and hypoglycemia. "This requires multiple injections of regular or lispro insulin per day before meals," he says. "At bedtime and/or in the morning, intermediate-acting insulin is used to smooth out the 'bumps' in blood sugar. Adding snacks to the diet and reducing meal size is often necessary."

"Plan on testing blood sugar at least five to six times a day," says Dawn Prindall of Orr's Island, Maine, mother of sons ages 11 and 6. "And get regular Heboglobin A1C tests before you get pregnant to give you an indication of how you're doing with control."

Want to see more?

• Pregnant and Diabetic: How Will Diabetes Affect Your Pregnancy?
• Healthy Eating During Preconception: Good Nutrition While You're Trying to Conceive
• Diabetes and Pregnancy: You Can Still Have a Healthy Baby
• Preconception Visits: Working with Your Doctor
• Join the discussion on our Family.com community!
• Diabetes Is Not So Sweet: Tips for Tackling Diabetes During Pregnancy