Pregnancy Planning - Intermediate - CDEP

Pre-conception care needs to be considered for all women of child-bearing age living with diabetes and not only for those planning pregnancy. Safe and reliable contraception should be discussed with all women living with diabetes as part of routine care. Optimal pre-conception care includes: - Education about the risks of pregnancy and how they can be reduced. - 5mg folate once a day. A daily dose of 5mg folate should be started well before pregnancy and continued for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. - Stopping any potentially harmful drugs such as cholesterol-lowering statins and blood-pressure-lowering ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers. - Achieving optimal glucose management prior to falling pregnant. An HbA1c target of 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) is recommended to reduce the risks of miscarriage, birth defects, etc. Pregnancy should be actively discouraged in women with an HbA1c above 86 mmol/mol (10%). Women should be seen in a joint antenatal and diabetes clinic as soon as possible after falling pregnant (ideally within the first 10 weeks of gestation). TOPIC TIPS... You do not have to complete the topic in one go... CDEP is designed to be done in 'bite-sized chunks' fitting into your busy life! This topic generally takes around 15 minutes - 1 hour to complete depending on your chosen CDEP level - although this may differ from person to person. There are a number of sections (competencies) within this topic, each with its own set of resources that may be useful to review should you require further support. However, undertaking the section itself is part of the learning process and will confirm or improve your current level of knowledge around that specific section, so why not jump straight in and have a go...