Preconception Counseling in Women With Diabetes: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study

Preconception counseling is recommended for all women with diabetes starting at puberty to convey the importance of optimal diabetes management for maternal and fetal outcomes. This study included 622 female participants from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study with a mean age of 22.2 years (range 14-35 years). Only 53.7% reported ever receiving preconception counseling, which was significantly lower among women seeing pediatric providers than those seeing adult or all-age providers. Older age and history of prior pregnancy were associated with increased odds of reporting having received preconception counseling. Identification of barriers to delivering preconception counseling to young females with diabetes and strategies to overcome them are needed to reduce the risk for pregnancy complications and adverse offspring health outcomes.