National Institutes of Health
- The primary NIH organization for research on Diabetes and Pregnancy is the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine 
National Institutes of Health
Diabetes and Pregnancy
Also called: Gestational diabetes
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. When you are pregnant, too much glucose is not good for your baby.
About seven out of every 100 pregnant women in the United States get gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is diabetes that happens for the first time when a woman is pregnant. It goes away after you have your baby, but it does increase your risk for having diabetes later.
If you already have diabetes before you get pregnant, you need to monitor and control your blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
Most women get a test to check for diabetes during their second trimester of pregnancy. Women at higher risk may get a test earlier.
Either type of diabetes during pregnancy raises the risk of problems for the baby and the mother. To help lower the risks, you should follow your meal plan, exercise, test your blood sugar, and, if needed, take your medicine.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
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Start Here
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What I Need to Know about Gestational Diabetes
(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
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What I Need to Know about Preparing for Pregnancy If I Have Diabetes(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
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What I Need to Know about Gestational Diabetes
The top row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Basics
,
Learn More
, and
Multimedia & Cool Tools
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For group Basics
For group Learn More
For group Multimedia & Cool Tools
The bottom row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Research
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Reference Shelf
, and
For You
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For group Research
For group Reference Shelf
For group For You
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Overviews
- Gestational Diabetes and Pregnancy(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Gestational Diabetes: A Guide for Pregnant Women(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- Also available in Spanish
- Healthy Pregnancy for Women with Diabetes(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - PDF
- Pregnancy Complications: Preexisting Diabetes(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation)
- Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes and Pregnancy(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Also available in Spanish
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Diagnosis/Symptoms
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Diagnosis of Diabetes and Prediabetes(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Gestational Diabetes and Testing(American College of Nurse-Midwives) - PDF
- Glucose Tests(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
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Diagnosis of Diabetes and Prediabetes
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Treatment
- How to Treat Gestational Diabetes(American Diabetes Association)
- Metformin and Pregnancy(Organization of Teratology Information Specialists) - PDF
- Also available in Spanish
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Prevention/Screening
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Am I at Risk for Gestational Diabetes?(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
- PDF
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Did You Have Gestational Diabetes When You Were Pregnant?(National Diabetes Education Program)
- PDF
- Got Diabetes? Thinking about Having a Baby?(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
- Preparing for Pregnancy: When You Have Diabetes(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
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Am I at Risk for Gestational Diabetes?
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Nutrition
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MedlinePlus: Diabetic Diet(National Library of Medicine)
- Also available in Spanish
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MedlinePlus: Diabetic Diet
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Disease Management
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Managing Gestational Diabetes: A Patient's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
- PDF
- Pregnancy and Diabetes: Why Lifestyle Counts(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- When You're Sick(American Diabetes Association)
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Managing Gestational Diabetes: A Patient's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy
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Specific Conditions
- Pregnant Women and Diabetes: Prenatal Care(American Diabetes Association)
- Pregnant Women with Diabetes: After Delivery(American Diabetes Association)
- Pregnant Women with Diabetes: Before Pregnancy(American Diabetes Association)
- Pregnant Women with Diabetes: Delivery(American Diabetes Association)
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Related Issues
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Causes of Diabetes(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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Who Can I Go to for Help with Gestational Diabetes?(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
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Causes of Diabetes
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Health Check Tools
- Gestational Diabetes Quiz(Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health)
- Return to top
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Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Diabetes, Gestational(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Diabetes, Gestational
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Research
- Access: Diabetes Research(American Diabetes Association)
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Epigenetics and fetal metabolic programming: a call for integrated research...
- Article: Vitamin D and gestational diabetes mellitus.
- Article: Metabolic alterations in pregnant women: gestational diabetes.
- Diabetes and Pregnancy -- see more articles
- Pregnancy in diabetics -- see more articles
- Return to top
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Diabetes Dictionary(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
- Take Charge of Your Diabetes: Glossary(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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Diabetes Dictionary
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Directories
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Directory of Diabetes Organizations(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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Directory of Diabetes Organizations
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Organizations
- American Diabetes Association
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National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
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National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Return to top
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Statistics
- National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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MedlinePlus Magazine
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Patient Handouts
- Diabetes diet - gestational
- Also available in Spanish
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Did You Have Gestational Diabetes When You Were Pregnant?(National Diabetes Education Program)
- PDF
- Gestational diabetes
- Also available in Spanish
- Gestational diabetes - self-care
- Also available in Spanish
- Glucose screening and tolerance tests during pregnancy
- Also available in Spanish
- Infant of diabetic mother
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
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You may also be interested in these related encyclopedia pages:
MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
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Diabetes and Pregnancy - Multiple Languages
