A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilitiessuggests that women who are diagnosed with diabetes before pregnancyhave a higher risk of giving birth to a baby with birth defects ormultiple defects than non-diabetic women, according to researchers.

“For single [birth] defects, the risk is three to four times greater, and about eightfold for multiple defects,” says Adolfo Correa, MD, MPH, PhD,  an epidemiologist and the study’s lead author.

The study emphasizes that the CDC doesn’t want to scare diabetic women who want to get pregnant. Ninety-three percent of the birth defects were not associated with maternal diabetes.

Are you at risk for diabetes? Learn more at diabetes.org