The Diabetes and Pregnancy Program is a multidisciplinary family-centered inpatient and outpatient program for pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes and/or gestational diabetes (a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy).

The program provides:

• Comprehensive prenatal care
• Counseling for families considering pregnancy complicated by diabetes
• Counseling on healthy eating and how to count carbohydrates
• Counseling on how to become and stay physically active
• Counseling on how to reduce your risk
• Counseling related to your medication schedule
• Blood glucose management
• Counseling on social issues, such as smoking cessation
• Help with problem solving and healthy management of diabetes
• Insulin therapy assessment, initiation and management
• Insulin pump therapy
• Diagnostic continuous glucose monitoring

You may be at risk for developing gestational diabetes if you:

• Have a past history of gestational diabetes
• Are older than 25 years of age
• Are overweight
• Are not physically active
• Have a family history of diabetes
• Are African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander

Patients and family members in the program will learn:

• The principles of controlling blood sugar values at home
• How to eat three healthy meals and three healthy snacks, count carbohydrates, read food labels and control portion sizes
• How many times to check blood sugar levels each day
• When to call a member of the health care team
• How to increase your activity level and/or exercise safely during pregnancy
• How to manage stress
• About diabetes medication, if needed
• What an insulin pump is and how it may improve your blood sugar control during and after pregnancy
• About continuous glucose monitoring
• What signs and symptoms to report to the health care team
• How to get help to stop smoking

The Diabetes and Pregnancy Program is directed by our maternal-fetal medicine specialists and assisted by our diabetes clinical educator. It is one of many services offered through Kosair Children's Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists. The staff of Kosair Children's Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists provides comprehensive high-risk pregnancy care for women experiencing multiple gestation, premature labor, maternal hypertension and other pregnancy-related conditions. Specialists also provide diagnosis and counseling for fetal abnormalities and inherited conditions, and specialized care for mother and baby at Norton Women’s Pavilion at Norton Hospital and Norton Suburban Hospital.

For more information about Kosair Children's Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists’ Diabetes and Pregnancy Program, call (502) 629-7181 or (866) 535-3178.