More women are being diagnosed with gestational diabetes each year, with it affecting more than one in 10 women during pregnancy.
Some women have a higher risk of developing it because of risk factors like living with obesity or overweight or having a family history.
Can you prevent gestational diabetes?
It’s not always possible to prevent gestational diabetes, but there are some things you can do to reduce your risk. This includes getting support to manage your weight, eat healthily and keep active before pregnancy.
The best way to reduce your risk of gestational diabetes is to try to be as healthy as possible before you get pregnant.
Find out more about planning your pregnancy on the NHS website. You could also try this Planning for Pregnancy tool created by Tommy’s – a charity dedicated to making pregnancy safer. It'll help you learn what you need to know.
If you are living with overweight or obesity, you can consider getting support to lose weight, and following a healthy, balanced diet and taking regular exercise really help.
You could also try swapping fizzy and sugary drinks for water and drink a glass with meals as well as staying hydrated in between meals.
Regular exercise has many benefits for keeping you fit and healthy, so it’s good to keep active and exercise at least 150 minutes a week.
Take a look at our exercise support page, which includes advice on how to fit exercise into a busy lifestyle, including a weekly activity planner.
Who is at high risk of gestational diabetes?
Some factors that can increase your risk of gestational diabetes include:
- Living with overweight or obesity
- Having had it before in a previous pregnancy
- Having had a very large baby in a previous pregnancy – 4.5kg/10lb or more
- Having a family history of diabetes – this means at least one parent or sibling
- Having a South Asian, Black or African Caribbean or Middle Eastern background.
- Increasing age.
Going into pregnancy at a healthy weight
We know that some women who are already a healthy weight can develop gestational diabetes.
However, being a healthy weight before you start trying to get pregnant will help your body prepare for pregnancy and reduce risk of health problems for you and your baby.
If you're living with overweight
If you are living with overweight or obesity, it can be harder to get pregnant, and increases the risk of some complications during pregnancy.
If you’d like to lose weight before you get pregnant, we have lots of tips and information including a weight loss planner, meal plans and emotional support. Go to our weight loss guide.
You can also speak to your healthcare team about what support is available to you such as weight management programmes. You shouldn’t try to lose weight while you’re pregnant.
If you’re living with underweight
If you’re underweight, it is not safe to lose weight and won’t help you prevent gestational diabetes.
It can also make it harder to get pregnant and increase the risk of health problems during pregnancy. You’re considered underweight if you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of below 18.5.
It's important you speak to your GP as you may be malnourished. They will be able to examine the underlying cause and provide any necessary treatment and support. We also have a page on how to gain weight.
Getting support
Our helpline is here for you as well as your GP if you want to chat anything through confidentially with a trained advisor, or ask questions. You can also reach out safely for support on our forum.
