With proper management, women with diabetes are defying pregnancy risks and achieving healthy motherhood

Women living with diabetes can have healthy pregnancies with pre-pregnancy planning, close monitoring, and access to specialist care, challenging longstanding fears surrounding fertility and childbirth.

For many women, diabetes has long been wrapped in fear when it comes to fertility, pregnancy and childbirth. But the experiences of women living with the condition, alongside guidance from endocrinologists and obstetric specialists, show a different reality: with pre-pregnancy planning, close monitoring and the right treatment, diabetes does not have to stand in the way of motherhood.

Nkiruka Okoro’s story captures both the danger of missed diagnosis and the power of specialist care. As a child, she was treated for what was later understood to be a diabetic emergency and eventually diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Years later, after preparing for pregnancy with her diabetes team in the United Kingdom, she conceived naturally, was placed on folic acid and monitored closely throughout pregnancy. Her daughter was delivered early after concerns about low blood sugar, but both children are healthy. Okoro’s experience reflects advice from the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that women with type 1 diabetes can have healthy pregnancies when blood glucose is carefully managed before and during gestation.

Other women have reached motherhood by navigating gestational diabetes and later type 2 diabetes. Osarenkhoe Chima-Nwogwugwu was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, then later found to have type 2 diabetes after repeated infections prompted further testing. She was once told another pregnancy would be too risky, yet an endocrinologist reassured her that diabetes does not automatically prevent pregnancy. With better support, she went on to have two more children. That experience aligns with guidance from the American Diabetes Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which both say gestational diabetes is serious but manageable with screening, diet, exercise, glucose checks and medication where needed.

The stakes are significant. The World Health Organisation says about one in six live births, or 21 million pregnancies each year, is affected by hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. It links uncontrolled diabetes with pre-eclampsia, stillbirth, large babies, neonatal hypoglycaemia and birth injuries. In Nigeria, where the WHO estimates 4.3 per cent of the population has diabetes, earlier reporting by PUNCH Healthwise found that 14 in every 100 pregnant women had gestational diabetes, underlining the need for early antenatal screening and follow-up after delivery.

For Nonye Nwolisa, access to insulin made the difference between loss and a safer delivery. Her first diabetic pregnancy ended in tragedy after cost prevented her from continuing treatment. Later, after moving to Lagos, she received joint care from an endocrinologist and a gynaecologist, monitored her blood sugar at home and delivered two healthy babies without major complications. That change reflects a broader lesson from diabetes specialists: good glucose control before conception and throughout pregnancy can sharply reduce risks to both mother and child.

Older women living with diabetes tell a similar story of resilience. Kudirat Otukoya, now 76, became pregnant after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and made it to term despite a difficult labour and post-delivery bleeding. More than four decades later, she still manages her condition with insulin, diet and regular monitoring, though the rising cost of treatment remains a worry. Her case also reflects a practical reality stressed by clinicians: diabetes itself is not a verdict on fertility or motherhood, but it does demand discipline, early care and access to affordable treatment.

Prof Adamu Bakari and Prof Christopher Aimakhu, two Nigerian specialists interviewed for the report, both argue that pregnancy is possible with diabetes when blood glucose is well controlled. They advise women to plan ahead, register early for antenatal care and be screened for gestational diabetes if they have risk factors such as obesity, a family history of diabetes, prior miscarriages or previous large babies. Their message is echoed by international health agencies: diabetes in pregnancy needs careful management, but with timely treatment, most women can still look forward to healthy babies.