What is the normal sugar level for a pregnant woman

Testing your blood glucose levels

If you are using continuous or flash glucose monitoring, the device will check your blood glucose levels throughout the day. Your care team should talk with you about when to do finger prick tests on top of this.

If you are using testing strips, your care team should talk with you about when to test your blood glucose levels during the day:

Blood glucose target levels

You and your care team should agree ideal (or target) blood glucose levels that are right for you and are manageable without causing problems with hypoglycaemia.

If you are taking metformin, or you are on insulin, you should be advised to aim for the following target blood glucose levels, unless this leads to difficulties with hypoglycaemia:

• fasting: below 5.3 mmol/litre

  and

• 1 hour after meals: below 7.8 mmol/litre.

If you are not able to test until 2 hours (rather than 1 hour) after a meal, the target glucose level at that time should be below 6.4 mmol/litre.

If you are on insulin, you should also be advised to keep your blood glucose above 4 mmol/litre, because of the risk of hypoglycaemia.

HbA1c levels

An HbA1c test tells you your average blood glucose levels over the last 2 to 3 months.

• If you already have diabetes, you should be offered an HbA1c test at your booking appointment. HbA1c tests might also be carried out later in pregnancy, although they are a less precise estimate of your blood glucose levels as pregnancy goes on. Your care team can explain more about this.

• If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you should be offered an HbA1c test as soon as possible once diabetes is confirmed, to make sure that you don't have type 2 diabetes.

Managing your blood glucose levels if you are on insulin

Your care team will review your insulin treatment with you, and may suggest a different type to help you achieve your blood glucose targets.

Your care team should explain how being pregnant can make it harder for you to recognise hypoglycaemia, especially in the first 3 months. You should make sure you have fast‑acting forms of glucose, such as sugar‑containing drinks or dextrose tablets, to hand in case your blood glucose gets too low.

If you have type 1 diabetes, your care team should also provide you with glucagon. This can be injected to increase your blood glucose in an emergency. Your partner or family members should be shown how to do this.

If you are finding it hard to keep your blood glucose at the right level or hypoglycaemia is affecting your day‑to‑day activities, you may be offered an insulin pump (a small device that delivers a steady flow of insulin through a fine tube inserted under the skin) instead of injections.

Blood sugar needs extra attention when a woman with pre-existing diabetes gets pregnant. Diabetes brings with it certain added pregnancy risks, so the goal is to maintain a blood sugar average that is as far below the normal level as you can without greatly increasing your risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or restricting the growth of your baby in the womb. It is important that this is done throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy.

Average blood sugar levels can be found with an A1c test. This test provides an idea of what your blood sugar average has been for the prior two to three months.

Because blood sugar has to be kept under tight control, it is useful to know if your doctor's target ranges are in whole blood or plasma measurements and what type of result your glucometer provides.

Common Blood Sugar and Pregnancy Goals

Plasma measurement results can be nine points or more above the whole blood results. This may not seem like a lot, but it can seem like a big deal when you are trying to maintain tight control. Below are common blood sugar and pregnancy goals:

• Fasting Blood Sugar: 105 mg/dL or less
• Before meals: 110 mg/dL or less
• One hour after meal: 155 mg/dL or less
• Two hours after meal: 135 mg/dL or less
• Middle of the night (around 2:00 – 3:00 a.m.): No less than 65
• A1c: 6.0% or less

Talk to your doctor about what blood sugar goals are best for you. Your doctor will provide goals according to your unique situation or based on other recommendations.

Expect to be asked to test your blood sugar more often. Most women are asked to test upon waking and before or after meals according to the preferences of their healthcare team and the situation. You may also be asked to check your level in the middle of the night if your fasting levels have been high.

It is recommended people with diabetes get their A1c level checked every three months. It may be checked more often during pregnancy.

Higher targets may be needed for patients who experience hypoglycemia unawareness or who are finding a strict regimen too challenging. Read tips for tight pregnancy blood sugar levels from women who have had successful pregnancies with diabetes.

Do You Want to Try to Conceive?

If you want to have a baby, speak with your endocrinologist and meet with a perinatologist for a pre-conception counseling session. Ideally, the goal is to maintain consistent normal blood sugar levels for three to six months before getting pregnant; using contraception during this period can help ensure that you don't get pregnant until you've met this goal.

Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Pregnancy if you have diabetes.

By Elizabeth Woolley
Elizabeth Woolley is a patient advocate and writer who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

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