Quality standard

This quality standard covers managing diabetes and its complications in women who are planning a pregnancy or are already pregnant. It includes care for women with pre-existing diabetes before and during pregnancy, and diagnosis and management of gestational diabetes. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

It does not cover routine care during pregnancy, which is included in NICE’s quality standard on antenatal care. NICE has also published quality standards on type 1 diabetes in adults, type 2 diabetes in adults and diabetes in children and young people.

The quality standard uses the term 'women' throughout. This should be taken to include people who do not identify as women but are planning to become pregnant or are already pregnant.

In January 2023, this quality standard was updated and replaced the previous version published in 2016. The topic was identified for update following the annual review of quality standards. The review identified:

  • changes in the priority areas for improvement
  • updated guidance on diabetes in pregnancy.

For more information, see update information.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them. We check our quality standards every August to make sure they are up to date.