Baby steps.

摘要

FOR WOMEN WITH diabetes, starting a healthy family takes a lot of extra planning. Pregnancy itself messes with the body's hormones-including insulin-and can increase insulin resistance. Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) hits pregnant women harder and faster, putting mother and fetus at risk. And then there's high blood glucose. High blood glucose levels at the moment of conception or in the early weeks of pregnancy can lead to birth defects or miscarriages. That means that it's important to get A1C levels under control before even trying to conceive-and that unplanned pregnancies are especially risky for women with diabetes. "You can lower your risk for complications by having tight metabolic control starting at conception," says Denise Charron-Prochownik, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Nursing and Graduate School of Public Health. But women need to know this early, she adds, before they become sexually active.