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NIDDK Resource to Help Guide Diabetic Women Through a Healthy Pregnancy
Brief Description:
Pregnancy in women who have diabetes is automatically considered
high-risk. But a new, easy-to-read booklet has information to
help women with diabetes experience safe and healthy pregnancies.
Transcript:
Akinso: Pregnancy in women who have diabetes is automatically considered high-risk. But a new, easy-to-read booklet has information to help women with diabetes experience safe and healthy pregnancies.
Fradkin: The name of the booklet is For Women with Diabetes: Your Guide to Pregnancy.
Akinso: Dr. Judith Fradkin is the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases.
Fradkin: This booklet is very helpful because it gives information about changing your diet during your pregnancy, tips for exercising, gives information about many of the test that maybe done in a pregnant woman to make sure that her baby is healthy and it also talks about steps that a woman can take after pregnancy and particularly the importance of breastfeeding.
Akinso: The booklet is illustrated, has 44-pages and includes information about all sorts of ways for women to manage their diabetes while pregnant.
Fradkin: What's particularly important is that with good control of the diabetes they can have really good pregnancy outcome.
Akinso: The booklet emphasizes the importance of planning for pregnancy and getting blood glucose levels under control before pregnancy to decrease the risk of birth defects associated with diabetes. Dr. Fradkin wants pregnant diabetic women to know that they to can have healthy outcomes.
Fradkin: It's a lot of work to take care of yourself. It's a team approach. But it is absolutely worth it, because both the health of the mother and the health of the baby can really be improved by good control.
Akinso: To order a free copy of the booklet go to www.catalog.niddk.nih.gov or call 1-800-860-8747. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.About This Audio Report
Date: 8/29/2008
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Judith Fradkin
Topic: Diabetic pregnant women
Institute(s):
NIDDK
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