Most women with diabetes have normal pregnancies resulting in healthy babies but having diabetes does increase the chances of serious complications both for the mother and baby.
For women with diabetes, who do not plan their pregnancy, the risk of a serious complication is about 1 in 10. That is, they have a stillbirth or an infant with a malformation.
For women without diabetes about 1 in 50 have a serious complication when they get pregnant.
If you plan your pregnancy with your diabetes team, your risk of serious complications returns to much nearer that of women without diabetes.
Most of the damage is done very early (first six to seven weeks) in pregnancy, so it is important to get advice about preventing these complications if you are thinking about having a baby i.e. before you stop your contraception to become pregnant.
If any of these risk factors are true for you, then if you even start thinking about having a baby, please contact your GP or diabetes care team. They can help you reduce your risks of serious pregnancy complications
For more information about pregnancy and diabetes contact your local diabetes care team.
Are you thinking about having a baby?
Would you like to have a baby?
Then please contact your GP or diabetes care team. They can help you reduce your risks for serious complications and improve the chances of a healthy pregnancy for you and your baby.
For more information, see the other leaflets on this website: Planning a Pregnancy, Managing Diabetes during Pregnancy, Gestational Diabetes
This leaflet has been produced by EASIPOD - The East Anglia Study Group - Improving Pregnancy Outcomes in Diabetes.
You can also view it as a pdf document.
More information about EASIPOD can be found on the Diabetes UK website.