Pre-pregnancy diabetes rising

OAKLAND, Calif., April 28 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say the number of women who develop diabetes before motherhood has more than doubled in six years.

The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, said the health risks of having diabetes before becoming pregnant are greater to mother and baby than gestational diabetes, which occurs when pregnancy triggers insulin resistance, Kaiser Permanente said Sunday in a news release. The report said women with pre-existing diabetes are more likely to have miscarriages, stillbirths and babies with birth defects.

Kaiser Permanente researchers looked at 175,249 women who gave birth in 11 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California between 1999 and 2005. Researchers found there were twice as many births to women with diabetes in 2005 as there were in 1999.

"More young women are entering their reproductive years with diabetes, in part due to the fact that our society has become more overweight and obese," lead author Jean M. Lawrence said. "While we currently don't know how to prevent type 1 diabetes, the steps to reducing risk of type 2 diabetes must start before childbearing years: healthy eating, active living and maintaining a healthy weight."