Gestational diabetes can occur in any pregnant woman, but there are certain risk factors that make it more likely:

• A woman is overweight.
• She is over 30.
• She has a strong family history of diabetes.
• She had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
• She previously had a baby weighing more than 9 pounds at birth.
• She has polycystic ovary syndrome.
• She has glycosuria, or glucose in the urine.
• She has impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. These conditions are characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose, the first after fasting and the second after consuming a high-glucose drink.
• She is black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or a Pacific Islander.