Avoiding The Risks Diabetes Can Present

In order to avoid the risks diabetes can present, it is important for a woman to achieve excellent blood sugar control at least six months prior to conception. It requires proper diet, exercise and insulin in the right proportions to attain good control, so a woman can't begin too early when she is planning to have a baby. Most diabetic-related fetal birth defects happen before a woman even knows she is pregnant, due mostly to fetal exposure to the high blood sugars in the diabetic mother's blood during the first two weeks of development. Sadly, these defects can't be changed or fixed by proper blood sugar control later in the pregnancy.