Focus on blood sugar control

Controlling your blood sugar level is the best way to prevent diabetes complications. When you're preparing for pregnancy, blood sugar control is more important than ever. Your health care provider might want you to reach a specific hemoglobin A1C level — a reflection of your blood sugar level for the past two to three months — before pregnancy.

Your baby's brain, spinal cord, heart and other organs begin forming soon after conception, even before you know you're pregnant. If you have poor blood sugar control during the earliest days of pregnancy, your risk of miscarriage and your baby's risk of birth defects — particularly those affecting the brain, spinal cord and heart — increase.

Your health care provider will help you establish your target blood sugar range. He or she will also evaluate your diabetes treatment plan and consider any changes that might be needed to improve it. The goal is to keep your blood sugar level as close to normal as safely possible.