OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS) -- The findings of a major study that links diabetes with birth defects have East Bay public health officials worried. This study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says woman diagnosed with diabetes before becoming pregnant are three to four times more likely to deliver a child with birth defects.
"In Alameda County in general we do have a little bit higher diabetes rate than the state of California in general," said Brenda Yamashita, director of the chronic disease program with Alameda County Public Health.
She says that when women who are already overweight get pregnant, they put on even more weight, and can exacerbate the effects of diabetes.
(MGO)