Across the UK, roughly 4.7 million people live with diabetes, with an estimated 1.3 million undiagnosed, signaling a potential surge of missed prevention opportunities.

Meg, a 33-year-old who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in 2020, shares a firsthand account of not receiving postnatal diabetes risk follow-up, illustrating gaps in care.

Her testimony underscores the real patient-level impact of weak postnatal support after gestational diabetes and birth.

Diabetes UK warns that insufficient postnatal follow-up for women with gestational diabetes may be a key driver of rising type 2 diabetes among younger women.

Guidelines call for HbA1c testing between six and 13 weeks after birth and then annually, yet an audit shows only 57% of GD patients receive an annual HbA1c test.

The data also show higher risk: about 11% of women with gestational diabetes develop prediabetes within a year, and roughly 15% progress to type 2 diabetes within ten years.