Planning a Pregnancy When You Have Diabetes? Here’s What you Need To Know And Follow For A Healthy Pregnancy

Pregnancy planning is a personal choice but it is said to be better to plan it when a parent has any existing medical condition. Needless to say that the risk of hereditary transmission of the disease to the baby is possible in many cases including diabetes. If parent(s) is diabetic, the child is also highly likely to get it. Therefore, in such cases, pregnancy planning plays an important role. The couple should understand certain points to deliver a healthy baby. Onlymyhealth got in touch with Dr. Bhagya Lakshmi S, Consultant Obstetrics, Gynaecologist & Laparoscopic Surgeon at Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad to understand how a woman with diabetes should proceed with pregnancy planning.

Health risks for baby

Do you know that many vital organs of the unborn baby like brain, heart, spinal cord start forming soon after conception? This happens even before the mother gets to know about her being pregnant. If the mother is diabetic and the blood sugar levels aren’t controlled, the risk of miscarriage and birth defects in babies increase. Thus, regulation of blood sugar, especially in the early days is very important.

Tips for a healthy pregnancy

To avert the risk of diabetes and other complications on the baby, you need to make certain changes in your lifestyle. Planning and preparing for pregnancy need to have some important points starting from blood sugar regulation and switching to a healthy lifestyle.

Medical checkup

If you are thinking about having a baby, you need to first get a medical checkup done to know the health status. Additionally, you also need to adopt different but safe measures of blood sugar control that have lesser risks. For example, if you take medicines, you may be advised a safer alternative that is secure during pregnancy and has lesser risks.

Besides, medical checkup also helps in eliminating the potential barriers in you pregnancy. Diabetes can cause various issues that need to be addressed before conception to avert the risks. Seeing a specialist is the best idea.

Also Read: What Is Gestational Diabetes? Know Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

A1C test is important

In most cases, healthcare providers recommend pre-pregnancy A1C test that is done to measure the haemoglobin levels. This test helps in determining the average blood sugar for past three months. Thus, it helps the doctors in providing the best consultation and treatment to mothers. This test is one of the prominent ways of blood sugar management.

Chalk out a plan to control high blood sugar

If you are found to have high blood sugar levels, you must make a plan to manage diabetes. This includes management and treatment both. Ask your doctor about the target range that you need to achieve for a healthy pregnancy. You can monitor the status through glucose monitors and other devices.

Healthy diet and active lifestyle

Diabetes management is not possible without eating healthy and doing physical activity. These are integral parts of a healthy life. If you want to have a smooth and safe pregnancy, you must eat clean and get active. If you are overweight, these steps would help in lowering your weight and clearing your way to pregnancy. Consult a dietitian to make this possible. Also, do light or moderate exercises to keep the body active. This would not only help you control diabetes but also maintain fitness.

Also Read: Senior Gynaecologist Dr. Deepika Aggarwal On Pregnancy Planning

Additional Pointers

• Maintaining a healthy weight and appropriate BMI is the first step for any woman planning a pregnancy whether diabetic or non diabetic 
• A woman who is diabetic from the pre-pregnancy period could be a type-1 or  a type-2 diabetic 
• Hence a woman with such a condition needs to have preconception consultation with her endocrinologist, obstetrician and dietician who can guide  her towards keeping her blood sugar levels and HBA1C levels in the desirable range
• Regular exercise and an active lifestyle along with appropriate medical management helps her achieve this goal 
• If one fails to keep the blood sugar levels HBA1C in check pre-conceptionally, it can lead to abortions, birth defects, macrosomia and metabolic abnormalities in the fetus, sudden intrauterine deaths, future obesity and diabetes in the child. 
• Even post conception, diet control, medical management, and active lifestyle can prevent these complications, if followed with thorough care.
• Even the woman who are known diabetics can benefit with preconception workup, as many woman might be in the prediabetic range or are undiagnosed 
• Diabetes especially the ones with risk factors like family history, obesity etc as this is one group which can silently land into complications is the course of the pregnancy

If you are a woman who has diabetes, you can plan a pregnancy but keep the aforesaid points in mind. Following these religiously would ensure minimum risk of diabetes in the baby.

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