
December 7, 2000
Research: Causes and Prevention
Question from Vernon, New Jersey, USA:
I have type 1 diabetes and did not have the greatest control, especially during pregnancy. I have two wonderful children [both premature] who seem to be healthy. One is a 12 year old boy who is on the heavy side, and the other is almost seven and is a peanut. What are the chances of them developing diabetes because I was “out of control” during pregnancy?
Answer:
While not all women with high HbA1c’s before and during pregnancy experience problems, poor or inadequate metabolic control does significantly increase the risk of congenital malformations and spontaneous abortion. However, the level of metabolic control does not seems to increase the risk of type 1 diabetes (which is about 6%) in offspring.
You can read a lot more on this topic by looking at previous answers to similar questions. I hope you might want to take greater care of your diabetes than you did before.
MS