Diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy? You're not alone, and you and your baby can do very well.

Gestational diabetes is diabetes that starts during pregnancy. It's common, it's not your fault, and it usually goes away after your baby is born. With healthy eating, activity, blood sugar checks and sometimes insulin or other medicine, most people with gestational diabetes have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Here you'll find clear, friendly guides for you and your family, from diagnosis to after the birth.

Updated October 3, 2026

In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

Start here

Gestational Diabetes: keeping you and your baby healthy (video, 3:57)

Getting started: a checklist

Save the phone numbers of your pregnancy care provider, your diabetes clinic and your birth unit.
Ask for a referral to a diabetes in pregnancy clinic, diabetes educator or dietitian, if you don't already have one.
Learn how to check your blood sugar, when to check, and what your targets are.
Keep a log of your readings, or use an app, and bring it to every visit.
Spread your meals and snacks through the day, and ask a dietitian to help you plan them.
Be active most days, such as a walk after meals, unless your care provider tells you otherwise.
If you start insulin, learn how to spot and treat low blood sugar.
Learn how your baby normally moves, and call right away if movements slow down.
Tell your team if you feel low, worried or overwhelmed.

Understand gestational diabetes

Why it happens in pregnancy, how it's tested for, and what it means for you and your baby.

Understanding gestational diabetes: What gestational diabetes is, why it happens in pregnancy, how it's tested for, what it can mean for you and your baby, and why treatment makes a real difference. (6 min read)

Managing it day to day

Checking your blood sugar, eating and moving well, and when insulin or other medicine is needed.

Checking Your Blood Sugar: meters, sensors and the A1C test (video, 3:47)
Eating Well with Diabetes: no single diet, just a few good habits (video, 3:41)
Starting Insulin: a step-by-step guide to your pen (video, 3:55)

Managing gestational diabetes: Day-to-day care for gestational diabetes: checking your blood sugar, eating well for you and your baby, staying active, when insulin or other medicine is needed, and what to expect at birth. (7 min read)

After your baby is born

Your follow-up glucose test, breastfeeding, your future health, and looking after your feelings.

Diabetes and Your Feelings: you're more than your numbers (video, 4:08)

After baby is born: life after gestational diabetes: What happens to your blood sugar after the birth, your baby's first checks, breastfeeding, the follow-up glucose test, your future risk of type 2 diabetes and how to lower it. (6 min read)
Diabetes and your feelings: Diabetes distress, burnout, worry and low mood are common and treatable. Learn the signs, simple ways to cope, how family can help and where to get support, including 9-8-8. (6 min read)

When to get help

Call 9-1-1 now

A seizure, fainting, or being very hard to wake up
If you take insulin: a severe low where you're too confused to swallow safely or pass out. Others should never put food or drink in your mouth if you can't swallow
Heavy bleeding from the vagina
Chest pain, or severe trouble breathing
Signs of a stroke: face drooping, arm weakness, or trouble speaking

Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. Don't drive yourself.

Call your birth unit or care provider now

Your baby is moving less than usual. Call your birth unit or care provider right away; don't wait until the next day
A severe headache, vision changes (blurry vision, flashing lights or spots), pain under your ribs on the right, or sudden swelling of your face or hands. These can be signs of preeclampsia. Call your birth unit right away
Fluid leaking from the vagina, or regular contractions or cramps before 37 weeks
Blood sugar readings above your targets several times in a row, or lows if you take insulin
Throwing up or not able to eat, especially if you take insulin or metformin
Pain or burning when you pee, or fever
Low mood or worry that lasts more than two weeks, during pregnancy or after the birth

Many hospitals have a 24-hour line for pregnant patients. If you can't reach anyone and you're worried, go to the hospital.

If you have any of the signs in the first list, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number right away, and tell them you're pregnant. For the second list, call your birth unit, labour and delivery, midwife or doctor now. Many hospitals have a 24-hour line for pregnant patients. A baby moving less than usual, or signs of preeclampsia, need to be checked the same day. If you can't reach anyone and you're worried, go to the hospital. When in doubt, call.

Low blood sugar: what to do: How to spot and treat low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) with the rule of 15, when to use glucagon and call 9-1-1, and how to stay safe while driving. (6 min read)

Questions to ask your team

What were my test results? What are my blood sugar targets, and when should I check?
Can I see a dietitian and a diabetes educator? What should a typical day of meals look like?
How active can I be?
When would I need insulin or other medicine?
How will you check my baby's growth? Does this change my birth plan?
When and where should I have my follow-up glucose test after the birth?

From our guide Managing gestational diabetes.

Go deeper

Written for clinicians and students. More technical material from Hibbert Medical, for readers who want more detail.

Podcast summaries

Women's health podcasts: Clinicians and researchers on pregnancy and women's health.
Nutrition podcasts: Researchers and dietitians on eating well.

Lectures

Gestational Diabetes: Screening, Diagnosis, and Management: Residency family medicine: testing, targets and treatment in pregnancy.
Gestational Diabetes: Screening, Management, and Delivery Planning: Residency obstetrics: monitoring the baby and planning the birth.
Pregestational Diabetes in Pregnancy: Pregnancy when diabetes was there before, and planning ahead.

Seminars

Gestational Diabetes and Diabetes in Pregnancy: Clerkship seminar: screening, treatment and follow-up after the birth.

Clinical cases

Newly Diagnosed Gestational Diabetes: Diet-Controlled: Managing with food, activity and blood sugar checks.
Gestational Diabetes Requiring Insulin: When and why insulin is added in pregnancy.
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Medical school case: how pregnancy changes blood sugar.

Common questions

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that is first found during pregnancy, usually in the second half. Hormones from the placenta make it harder for insulin to work. Most people make extra insulin to keep up, but some can't make enough, and blood sugar rises. Diabetes Canada says between 3% and 20% of pregnant people develop it, depending on their risk factors.

Did I cause my gestational diabetes?

No. Gestational diabetes is caused mainly by pregnancy hormones, and many things that raise the risk, such as age, family history and ethnic background, are outside anyone's control. It's not caused by anything you did wrong. What matters is the plan from here.

Will my baby be okay?

Most babies of parents with gestational diabetes are born healthy. Keeping your blood sugar in your target range lowers the chances of problems, such as the baby growing very large, a difficult birth, and low blood sugar in the baby right after birth. Your team will watch you and your baby closely.

Will I need insulin?

Many people manage gestational diabetes with healthy eating and activity alone. If your blood sugar stays above target, your team may suggest insulin, which is safe in pregnancy and doesn't cross to the baby. In some places, metformin is also used. Needing medicine is not a failure. It's a way to protect you and your baby.

Will it go away after my baby is born?

For most people, blood sugar goes back to normal soon after the birth. But having had gestational diabetes means you have a much higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, and of having gestational diabetes again in a future pregnancy. That's why a blood sugar test after the birth, and regular checks after that, are so important.

Sources for this page

Back to Diabetes: checking your blood sugar, low blood sugar, sick days, food, activity and support, for any kind of diabetes

General information, not medical advice. It does not replace your own care team. If you think you or someone else is having a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8 (Canada and the US).

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