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Expert Q&A

	By Aneema Van Groenou, M.D. General Medicine

I have diabetes. How can I prepare for a healthy pregnancy?

The best way to reduce the risk of any complications is to maintain excellent pre-pregnancy health and to commit to regular prenatal care in order to control blood sugars throughout pregnancy.

If you have diabetes, you can improve your health and the health of your baby-to-be by preparing well for pregnancy. Choose an obstetrician before you get pregnant, and make an appointment. During this visit, you want to discuss:

• Your risk factors that may affect your pregnancy (such as a family history of diabetes).
• What lifestyle (work, diet, weight, exercise) changes you can make now to improve the health of your pregnancy – and your chances of getting pregnant.
• How you can get your blood sugar into excellent control before pregnancy, such as by altering your medications and eating schedule.
• Starting prenatal vitamins, such as folic acid (also found in green, leafy vegetables and citrus fruits), to reduce your risk of birth defects like spinal cord defects.

Your baby's organs start to develop as soon as you get pregnant – before you even know you are pregnant! So, controlling your blood sugar well at least a few weeks (and, in some cases, a few months) before pregnancy is very important to your baby's healthy development.

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