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 · last reviewed October 3, 2026

Congratulations on your new baby! After months of finger pricks, food logs and appointments, you may be very ready to put gestational diabetes behind you. For most people, that's exactly what happens in the short term: blood sugar goes back to normal soon after the birth.

But gestational diabetes leaves an important message for the future. This guide explains what happens after the birth, the follow-up test you'll need, and simple ways to protect your health for years to come.

Right after the birth

Once the placenta is delivered, the hormones that made insulin work less well drop quickly. For most people:

• Diabetes medicines are stopped right after the birth. If you were taking insulin or metformin, your team will tell you what to do.
• Your blood sugar may be checked for a day or two to make sure it has come back to normal.
• You can go back to eating normally, with a focus on healthy foods.

If your blood sugar stays high after the birth, your team will look into whether you might have had diabetes before the pregnancy.

Your baby's first checks

Because your baby got used to extra sugar before birth, their body may make extra insulin for a little while after birth. This can cause low blood sugar in the baby. To help:

• Feed your baby soon after birth, ideally within the first hour, and often after that.
• Skin-to-skin contact helps your baby stay warm and start feeding.
• Your baby's blood sugar will be checked with a small heel prick, usually several times in the first day.

Most babies' blood sugar settles quickly. A few need extra feeding or care in the nursery.

Some care providers suggest expressing and saving colostrum (early breast milk) in the last weeks of pregnancy, to have on hand if your baby needs extra feeds. Ask your team if this is right for you.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding has many benefits for you and your baby. For people who had gestational diabetes, research suggests it may also lower your chance of developing type 2 diabetes later, and Diabetes Canada encourages it. Any amount of breastfeeding helps. If breastfeeding is hard, or isn't possible for you, that's okay. Ask for help from a nurse, midwife or lactation consultant, and know that there are other ways to protect your health.

Something you can do this week: Ask your nurse or midwife about breastfeeding support in your community.

Your follow-up blood sugar test

This is the most important step after gestational diabetes, and it's easy to miss when you're busy with a newborn. Make sure you know when your test is due.

• Diabetes Canada recommends a glucose tolerance test (the sugary drink test) between 6 weeks and 6 months after the birth.
• The American Diabetes Association recommends this test 4 to 12 weeks after the birth.
• NICE in the UK recommends a fasting blood sugar test 6 to 13 weeks after the birth, or an A1C test after 13 weeks.

The test checks whether your blood sugar has gone fully back to normal, or whether you have prediabetes or diabetes.

Something you can do today: Ask your provider, "When should I have my follow-up glucose test?" and put a reminder in your phone.

Your long-term risk

Having had gestational diabetes means you have a much higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Large studies suggest the risk is about 7 to 10 times higher than for people who didn't have gestational diabetes. It can happen within a few years, or many years later. You also have a higher chance of gestational diabetes in a future pregnancy, and of heart disease later in life.

That may sound worrying, but there's a lot you can do. And knowing about your risk means problems can be found early.

Keep checking, for life

Even if your follow-up test is normal, regular checks are important:

• Diabetes Canada suggests testing every 3 years, or more often if you have other risk factors.
• The American Diabetes Association suggests testing every 1 to 3 years for life.
• NICE suggests a yearly A1C test.

Ask your team what's right for you, and tell any new doctor that you had gestational diabetes.

Lowering your risk

The same healthy habits that help prevent type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes can help you too. In the Diabetes Prevention Program, a lifestyle program lowered the chance of type 2 diabetes by more than half, and people with a history of gestational diabetes also benefited.

• Move most days. Walks with the stroller count! Build up to about 150 minutes a week as you recover.
• Eat well. Keep up the healthy habits you learned in pregnancy: vegetables, high-fibre carbs, protein with meals, and water instead of sugary drinks.
• Breastfeed if you can.
• Look after your sleep and stress, as best you can with a new baby. Ask for help.
• If you smoke, ask for help to quit.

Planning another pregnancy

If you'd like to have another baby, talk with your team before you get pregnant. They'll want to check your blood sugar first. In your next pregnancy, you'll likely be tested for diabetes early, as well as at 24 to 28 weeks. Ask about birth control that suits you in the meantime.

Your feelings matter too

The weeks after birth can be tiring and emotional. If you feel low, anxious or unlike yourself for more than two weeks, tell your provider. Postpartum depression is common and treatable. If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 9-8-8 in Canada or the U.S., or call 9-1-1.

Questions to ask your care team

• Do I need to keep checking my blood sugar after the birth?
• When and where should I have my follow-up glucose test?
• How often should I be tested after that?
• How can I lower my chance of type 2 diabetes?
• What should I do before planning another pregnancy?
• Is there breastfeeding support near me?

This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your health care team about your own situation. In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

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

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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