Diabetes: lessons for midwives.

This study is larger than any other in describing pregnancy outcomes for women with pre-gestational diabetes. From the report, the three main messages for midwives are: Women with type 2 diabetes have a risk of poor outcome similar to those with type 1 diabetes. The same support and management of women with type 1 diabetes should be applied to women with type 2 diabetes pre-conceptionally and throughout the pregnancy and neonatal period. Pre-pregnancy care and advice should be made more flexible and advertised well in a variety of settings where diabetic women of childbearing age are most likely to see it. Women with diabetes should be encouraged and supported to breastfeed their babies from birth by giving them an understanding of the general and specific benefits this will provide.