Start with a checkup

The first step in preparing for pregnancy is to talk to your health care provider.

He or she might recommend:

• Changing medications. If you take diabetes medication besides insulin, you might need to switch to something that's safer for use in pregnancy or make other changes to your diabetes treatment plan before you conceive. If you also have high blood pressure, your blood pressure medications may need to be changed because some blood pressure drugs aren't recommended during pregnancy.
• Treatment for certain conditions. If you have high blood pressure, signs of eye disease or other diabetes complications that could be aggravated by pregnancy, you might need treatment before you get pregnant.
• Seeing specialists. Your health care provider might suggest scheduling preconception appointments with a high-risk obstetrician, a diabetes educator, a registered dietitian or other specialists.