Diabetes makes a pregnancy high risk. This is because diabetes can cause many potentially negative effects on the baby as well as the mother. Blood sugar is the baby's food source and it passes from the mother through the placenta to the baby.

When a woman has diabetes and her blood sugars are poorly controlled (too high), excess amounts of sugar are transported to the baby. Since the baby does not have diabetes, he/she is able to increase the production of insulin substantially in order to use this extra sugar. This abnormal cycle of events can result in several complications.