Cuban participation in and contributions to education, medical care and research on diabetes and pregnancy in Latin America dates back to the 1970s when the Latin American Diabetes Association was founded. The Cuban health system and its professionals recognized early the problems presented by diabetes during pregnancy for the health of an expectant mother and her children and assimilated and disseminated important lessons that became influential in the region. These included: importance of adopting a program within primary health care that offers national coverage for diabetic pregnant women, with a special focus on pre-conception monitoring of diabetic women; benefits of defining a specific range for application of a fasting glucose test to identify risk of gestational diabetes through selective screening for the disease; using insulin to treat gestational diabetes; controlling excessive weight at the beginning and during pregnancy; and underscoring the importance of interdisciplinary treatment of diabetes in pregnancy. The goal was to improve care and research in reproductive health for diabetic pregnant women and their children in Cuba.

KEYWORDS: Gestational diabetes, pregnancy, Latin America, Cuba