After Gestational Diabetes, the Check-Ups Still Matter
Motherhood Diary ··Source: Dr. Maria Houborg Petersen and colleagues, Steno Diabetes Center Odense and Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus
If you had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, you may remember the relief of hearing your numbers had settled after the baby arrived. New research is a gentle reminder that the story doesn’t quite end there.
Researchers from Steno Diabetes Centers in Odense and Aarhus, Denmark, studied 2,865 women who had been pregnant and were later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Of those, 173 had gestational diabetes during a pregnancy. That group was diagnosed almost 13 years earlier on average, at a median age of 43.5 compared with 56.3. About 40% of them were under 40 when type 2 diabetes appeared, compared with 6% of women without that history. Around the time they joined the study, they were also about twice as likely to be on insulin (10.4% vs. 5.2%).
There’s some reassuring news in the same study. The two groups had similar weight and similar blood sugar control, and most diabetes complications showed up at similar rates.
It helps to know what this research doesn’t say. The study only looked at women who went on to develop type 2 diabetes, so it doesn’t mean gestational diabetes leads to type 2 diabetes for everyone. The group with a gestational diabetes history was also fairly small. And the findings were first shared at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Milan this fall.
Research presented at a meeting is usually considered early until it’s published in a peer-reviewed journal. Earlier research has already shown that women with a history of gestational diabetes have a substantial long-term risk. This study adds to that picture by suggesting the diagnosis may come earlier, and that the disease may be more advanced when it does. The researchers say their findings point to the need for closer monitoring and follow-up for women who’ve had gestational diabetes. Life with a newborn, then a toddler, then a school-age schedule doesn’t leave much room for our own appointments. Blood sugar checks are easy to let slide once the pregnancy is behind us.
There’s encouraging news too. In the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program, a large, long-running study, women with prediabetes and a history of gestational diabetes lowered their risk of developing type 2 diabetes over 10 years. Intensive lifestyle changes cut the risk by about 35%, and the medication metformin cut it by about 40%. Knowing your history is a way of looking after yourself, not a reason to worry.
Something to carry into this week: if you had gestational diabetes, it’s worth asking your provider what follow-up testing makes sense for you and how often. Every body and every history is different, so their guidance comes first.
Sources: Research by Dr. Maria Houborg Petersen and colleagues, Steno Diabetes Center Odense and Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Milan, September 28–October 2, 2026, via EurekAlert and News-Medical; Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study 10-year follow-up, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2015. This article is for information only and is not medical advice.
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