Washington, D.C., December 6, 2016 - As rates of obesity and diabetes among women of reproductive age soar, it is critical that nurses provide the best evidence-based care and promote healthy behaviors among these women and their infants. Concern about the negative effects of diabetes on women and babies led the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) to develop its first evidence-based clinical practice guideline focused on the condition: Nursing Care of the Woman with Diabetes in Pregnancy.
Nursing Care of the Woman with Diabetes in Pregnancy (The Guideline) provides extensive information that supports nurses in providing high quality, evidence-based care to women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or gestational diabetes (A1 or A2). Topics covered in The Guideline include blood sugar targets, monitoring in pregnancy, intravenous insulin administration during labor, neonatal hypoglycemia and feeding guidelines. Further, the Guideline explains key differences in recommendations for diagnosing diabetes in pregnancy, as well as the fetal, neonatal and maternal short and long term effects of diabetes.
Women are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes later in life if they develop diabetes during pregnancy, also known as gestational diabetes. By encouraging women to adopt healthy lifestyle changes, such as regularly participating in physical activity and receiving blood sugar screenings, nurses can decrease the risk that their patients will develop diabetes during pregnancy or later on.
For more information about AWHONN's Nursing Care of the Woman with Diabetes in Pregnancy, please visit the AWHONN website here.
Since 1969, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) has been the foremost authority promoting the health of women and newborns and strengthening the nursing profession through the delivery of superior advocacy, research, education, and other professional and clinical resources. AWHONN represents the interests of 350,000 registered nurses working in women's health, obstetrics, and neonatal nursing across the United States. Learn more about AWHONN at www.awhonn.org.