Pregnancy And Diabetes - What You Should Expect From Conception To Birth

Pregnancy is a very special experience in any woman's life. It's normally believed that pregnancy is risky for women with diabetes. In this article, we will discuss a preconception planning for the woman with diabetes and we will refer to some best quality resources on managing gestational diabetes.

If you have diabetes, how you should plan for your pregnancy

a. You should first discuss with your family physician, dietician and obstetrician who is familiar with the special challenges of a diabetic pregnancy.

b. You need to manage excellent blood glucose control before conception because hyperglycemia increases the risk of a miscarriage or of birth defects in the baby.

c. Do a thorough medical check up because high and prolonged blood sugar might have impacted your eyes, kidneys and possibly other body parts. This thorough physical examination will help medical professionals to assess your body's readiness to take on the demands of pregnancy.

You have to be particular for followings:

• Diabetic retinopathy may get worsen during pregnancy for a diabetic patient. You should have a dilated eye examination before you become pregnant, and have regular check up with an ophthalmologist during the course of your pregnancy.

• Pregnant Women with hypertension need to avoid ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, or diuretics as anti-hypertensive drugs and hence need to follow her doctor's advice, dietary and exercise plan to keep her healthy.

• Kidney disease of would be mother can negatively impact the baby's growth and development. This might be critical for a pregnant lady.

• Autonomic neuropathy and peripheral neuropathy damage the internal organs, which can complicate the management of diabetes during pregnancy.

You need to aim for near-normal glucose levels

Bring down blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible -- ideally for three months before you become pregnant. Maintain this level for 1st three months because baby is rapidly developing this time. If you able to manage HbA1c level within 1% of normal, the rates of congenital deformities and spontaneous abortion are no different from those in women without diabetes.

What should be your blood glucose level?

Test your blood glucose level before meal and 70-100 mg/dl (3.9 - 5.6 mmol/l) should be your whole blood glucose reading.

Test your blood glucose level 2 hours after meals and whole blood glucose reading should be under 140 mg/dl (<7.8 mmol/l).