Our goal as anesthesiologists is to both alleviate pain and to keep the patient and baby safe. We need to anticipate any complications that could jeopardize the safety of the patient and baby on the day of delivery. We also want patients to be aware of these potential challenges in advance so they are not caught by surprise if something changes during delivery.

As a Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, one of the questions I hear most often is a simple, yet important, one: “What can I eat?” It's understandable: it's difficult to feel like you're going from being able to eat whatever you want to feeling stuck on a more regimented plan as part of living...