New and future diabetes therapies: are they safe during pregnancy?

Diabetes in pregnancy, whether the woman had diabetes prior to becoming pregnant or developed gestational diabetes, is associated with many complications and risks. In the first trimester, organogenesis can be disrupted by complications due to poor control of the mother's diabetes, leading to fetal malformations or perinatal mortality. Problems with glucose control in the remainder of the pregnancy can also have consequences for the child. These include macrosomia, shoulder dystocia, pre-eclampsia, hypoglycemia and an increased risk for obesity and diabetes in the future. Therefore, aggressive and prompt treatment of the high blood sugar levels, which cause these complications, is necessary. This review looks at the current treatments for pregnancies complicated by diabetes and evaluates the place of new and possible future treatments including diet, exercise, insulin, insulin analogs and oral and inhaled agents.