Diet and exercise in pregnancy with type 1/2 diabetes

Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay active throughout your pregnancy. This will help keep your blood sugar levels within target, and increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy.  

On this page

Your diet in pregnancy

Keep an eye on your portion sizes

Taking supplements

Alcohol

Staying active in pregnancy 

Managing your weight in pregnancy with type 1 or 2 diabetes 

More information and advice

Your diet in pregnancy

It’s vital to have a healthy, balanced diet. This will help you manage your blood sugar levels. Speak to your healthcare team for tailored dietary advice for diabetes and pregnancy.

Keep an eye on your portion sizes

How much you eat during a meal matters just as much as what you eat. Friends and family might push you to have extra food or snacks because ‘you’re eating for two now’. This is a myth and isn’t true!

You don’t need to eat any extra food in the first two trimesters of pregnancy. In the third trimester, you may need to eat around 200 calories extra a day, which is only around half a sandwich.

Find out more about how much extra you should eat in pregnancy.

Taking supplements

Folic acid

If you have diabetes and you’re pregnant, you will need to start taking 5mg of folic acid every day.  This is a higher dose of folic acid than most pregnant people need to take.

Ideally, start taking this for 3 months before you start trying to conceive, until you are 12 weeks pregnant. Folic acid lowers the risk of having a baby with spina bifida or other problems that affect the baby's spine and neural tube.

You’ll need to get the higher dose of folic acid prescribed by your GP because you can’t get it over the counter.  

Vitamin D

Most people are advised to take 10 mcg of vitamin D every day. It’s especially important if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Taking vitamin D throughout your pregnancy will help keep your baby’s bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

Find out more about taking supplements in pregnancy.  

Alcohol

There is no proven safe amount of alcohol you can drink during pregnancy. If you drink alcohol during pregnancy, it will pass through the placenta to your baby.

The more you drink, the greater the risk of harm to your baby. Cutting out all alcohol during pregnancy is by far the safest option.

As well as this, if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, alcohol can affect your blood sugar levels. It can:

• make it harder to see the signs of low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia)
• make hypoglycaemic episodes (hypos) last longer
• delay a hypo until hours after you’ve had some alcohol.

Find out more about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Staying active in pregnancy

Exercise is not a danger for your baby. Some people worry about their baby being shaken around while they work out, but this won’t happen. Your baby is safe and secure. They’re cushioned in a bag of fluid (amniotic sac) within your womb. They may even find the movement calming.

If you have always been active, it’s usually safe and healthy to keep going at the same level during pregnancy. If you have not been active before, you can start to build up your level of activity now.

You can start with our 10 tips for staying active in pregnancy.

The benefits of exercise

If you have type 2 diabetes, physical exercise can lower your blood sugar level.  

If you have type 1 diabetes, exercise and sport affects your blood sugar levels. Depending on the type of exercise or sport you do, it can cause your blood sugar levels to rise (hyperglycaemia) or drop (hypoglycaemia). For example, intense or unplanned exercise can cause hypoglycaemia.

• Check your blood glucose level before and during exercise – this will help you work out what you should eat and when to adjust your insulin.
• Record your blood glucose levels and what you eat when you exercise – share this with your diabetes team to help find what works for you.
• Check your blood glucose levels more often after exercise. (They can drop up to 12 hours after exercise).
• If you exercise, it's likely you'll need extra carbohydrate to prevent hypos.
• Drink plenty of water while you work out.

The best exercises for pregnancy with diabetes

In general, some of the best exercises for pregnancy include:

• walking
• swimming
• running (if you ran before you were pregnant)
• pregnancy yoga
• aerobics classes designed specifically for pregnancy
• pelvic floor and stomach exercises.

However, everyone’s different, and what’s best for you may not be the same for everyone. If you have any questions about exercise and type 1 or 2 diabetes, speak to your healthcare team. They can help you find the best ways to exercise during your pregnancy.

'I was advised to continue running because my body was used to it – I managed to run up until I was four months pregnant. When I felt unable to run I did Pilates and swimming, which I found hugely beneficial.'  
Laura

Managing your weight in pregnancy with type 1 or 2 diabetes

If you eat well and exercise, you should find it easier to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy.  

Most diabetes pregnancy services will weigh you at every visit. This is because you are more likely to have a large baby (macrosomia) or develop pre-eclampsia if you gain a lot of weight during your pregnancy. 

Everyone gains weight differently in pregnancy so there are no official guidelines for how much weight you should gain. The main thing is to keep your weight gain to a safe and healthy level for you and your baby. 

Find out more about how much weight you should gain during pregnancy.  

Do not try to lose weight when you’re pregnant. Even if you are classed as obese, going on a diet while you’re pregnant may affect your growing baby. Just try to eat healthy balanced meals.

If you eat healthily, you may not gain any weight while you’re pregnant, and you might even end up losing a little bit in the process. This won’t harm your baby.  

Find out more about being overweight and pregnant.  

Your team will support you and give you advice about how to keep yourself and your baby healthy if they feel that your weight is an issue.

Find out more about managing your weight in pregnancy.  

More information and advice

The charity Diabetes UK has lots of information on diet and exercise when you have diabetes, including tips for managing diabetes in pregnancy. You can also call them on 0345 123 2399 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm), or email [email protected]