Pregnancy is often a time of great highs and lows. It can be awesome and thrilling—when you hear the baby's heartbeat or feel the first tiny kick. It can also be frustrating and even scary. Because we know more about diabetes than ever before, there has never been a better time for you to plan a pregnancy. For the best prenatal care, assemble a team that includes the following: It’s important to remember that YOU are the leader of your health care team. Keep track of any questions you have and make sure to ask your health care team. Your body is changing as the baby grows. Because you have diabetes, these changes will affect your blood glucose level. Pregnancy can also make symptoms of low blood glucose hard to detect. During pregnancy, your diabetes control will require more work. The blood glucose checks you do at home are a key part of taking good care of yourself and your baby before, during and after pregnancy. Blood glucose targets are designed to help you minimize the risk of birth defects, miscarriage and help prevent your baby from getting too large.
If you have trouble staying in your target range or have frequent low blood glucose levels, talk to your health care team about revising your treatment plan. Target blood glucose values may differ slightly in different care systems and with different diabetic teams. Work with your health care team on determining your specific goals before and during pregnancy. The American Diabetes Association suggests the following targets for women with preexisting diabetes who become pregnant. More or less stringent glycemic goals may be appropriate for each individual. *Postprandial glucose measurements should be made 1-2 hours after the beginning of the meal, which is generally when levels peak in people with diabetes. Check your blood glucose levels at the times your diabetes team advises; this may be up to eight tests daily and will probably include after-meal checks. Insulin is the traditional first-choice drug for blood glucose control during pregnancy, because it is the most effective for fine-tuning blood glucose and it doesn’t cross the placenta.
Therefore, it is safe for the baby. Insulin can be injected with a syringe, an insulin pen, or through an insulin pump. All three methods are safe for pregnant women. If you have type 1 diabetes, pregnancy will affect your insulin treatment plan. During the months of pregnancy, your body's need for insulin will go up. This is especially true during the last three months of pregnancy. The need for more insulin is caused by hormones the placenta makes. The placenta makes hormones that help the baby grow. At the same time, these hormones block the action of the mother's insulin. As a result, your insulin needs will increase. If you have type 2 diabetes, you too need to plan ahead. If you are taking diabetes pills to control your blood glucose, you may not be able to take them when you are pregnant. Because the safety of using diabetes pills during pregnancy has not been established, your doctor will probably have you switch to insulin right away. Also, the insulin resistance that occurs during pregnancy often decreases the effectiveness of oral diabetes medication at keeping your blood glucose levels in their target range.
For women with gestational diabetes, meal planning and exercise often work to keep blood glucose levels in control; however, if blood glucose levels are still high, your doctor will probably start you on insulin. Only a small number of studies have been published analyzing the safety and effectiveness of oral medications during pregnancy. Unlike insulin, oral medications cross the placenta to the unborn baby in varying degrees. For these reasons, the American Diabetes Association does not recommend their use in pregnancy. However, oral medications are now used more frequently than in the past by some health care providers to manage blood glucose levels that are not controlled by diet and exercise alone during pregnancy. During pregnancy you and your dietitian or doctor may need to change your meal plan to avoid problems with low and high blood glucose levels. This is the most important reason for keeping track of your blood glucose results. For most women, the focus of a good meal plan during pregnancy is improving the quality of foods you eat rather than merely increasing the amount of food eaten.
A good meal plan is designed to help you avoid high and low blood glucose levels while providing the nutrients your baby need to grow. Including a variety of different foods and watching portion sizes is key to a healthy diet. Healthy eating is important before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as throughout your life. Healthy eating includes eating a wide variety of foods, including: Many people think eating for two means eating a lot more than you did before. You only need to increase your calorie intake by about 300 more calories each day. If you start pregnancy weighing too much, you should not try to lose weight. Instead work with your dietitian or doctor to curb how much weight you gain during pregnancy. Your dietitian will keep track of your weight gain. If you start pregnancy at a normal weight, expect to add between 25 to 35 pounds. Women who start pregnancy too thin need to gain more. If you are obese at the start of your pregnancy, work with your dietitian to limit your weight gain to about 15–25 pounds.
You can determine your healthy weight by finding your BMI level by using our BMI calculator. Exercise is a key part of diabetes treatment. Just as you need to get your blood glucose under control before getting pregnant, it's best to get fit before you get pregnant. Can you keep your current exercise program during pregnancy? Is it safe to start exercise after you are pregnant? Discuss your exercise plans with your diabetes team. Pregnant women frequently question whether it is safe to exercise during pregnancy. Regular physical activity is not only safe for pregnant women, it benefits health by offsetting some of the problems of pregnancy, such as varicose veins, leg cramps, fatigue and constipation. For women with diabetes, exercise, especially after meals may help the muscles use the glucose in the bloodstream, and help keep your blood glucose levels in your target range. But if you have any of the following conditions (see the list below), then you will need to talk to your diabetes team about the risks of exercise during pregnancy.