Diabetes is the most common medical problem in pregnancy, present in 3.3% of the live births. Diabetes can be present in the lady from before the pregnancy or it may develop later during pregnancy, which is called as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). To differentiate between these two conditions it is important that the blood sugar test (Blood sugar Fasting and PP OR random blood sugar with HbA1c) should be done earliest in the pregnancy. The importance of differentiating between them is that both cause different problems for the lady and the developing baby in pregnancy.

Diabetes if pre-existing, then it should be well controlled before planning pregnancy otherwise it can cause birth defects in the baby. During pregnancy also it is very important to control blood sugar levels.
First step is to try with diet management and exercise. Second step is with oral medicines and if not controlled then insulin injections are required. The plan of delivery depends on the presence of complications of diabetes in pregnancy and how controlled are the sugar levels.

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