If you want to have children, diabetics should be examined in advance

Desire to have children: Diabetics should check through before conception
Women who suffer from diabetes and want to have a baby should seek medical advice before conception. This can minimize risks for mother and child. Among other things, the metabolism should be optimally adjusted as early as possible.

Increased risk of complications
According to a message from the German Society of Internal Medicine e. V. (DGIM), about one hundredth child is currently born in Germany by a mother with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. "The risk of complications is significantly increased in these pregnancies," the experts write. Diabetics should therefore follow some guidelines in order to minimize the risks for mother and child.

Diabetics who wish to have a child should consult a doctor before conception. It is important that the blood sugar is optimally adjusted before pregnancy. (Image: Halfpoint / fotolia.com)

More frequent miscarriages
Although today women with diabetes can usually have children without any problems, diabetics, according to the DGIM, suffer premature birth three to nine times more often than non-diabetic pregnant women; Malformations are two to four times more common and the risk of developing pre-eclampsia that is life-threatening for both mother and child is two to ten times greater in diabetics.

In addition, US scientists earlier this year reported that diabetes combined with obesity doubled the risk of autism in newborns.

See a doctor before conception
The experts of the DGIM recommend diabetics who wish to have children to consult a doctor before conception. It is important that the blood sugar is optimally adjusted before pregnancy.

An elevated blood sugar level in pregnant women has serious consequences and can lead to various diseases of the child.

Blood pressure and blood lipid levels should also be checked.

Gestational diabetes increases diabetes risk
"Far more common than pregnancies in women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, however, are pregnancies that cause new or newly diagnosed diabetes," the company said in its statement.

This can also have long-term consequences, as transient gestational diabetes significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, as a South Korean long-term study showed.

To prevent long-term consequences for the child
Unfortunately, the risks and consequences of postpartum diabetes are often underestimated, complain experts.

According to the DGIM, a glucose screening test in the second trimester of pregnancy has been mandatory in Germany since 2012 in order to prevent long-term consequences for the child. In women with an increased risk of diabetes, the experts of the DGIM recommend that a blood glucose measurement be carried out in early pregnancy. (Ad)