Women who develop diabetes mellitus during pregnancy, referred to as gestational diabetes, are more vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases. Gestational diabetes mellitus is a common condition affecting 2 to 4 percent of pregnant women. To determine whether women with gestational diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease after pregnancy, researchers from Canada followed 89,453 women, aged between 20 and 49 years. Out of these 8,191 women developed diabetes during pregnancy and were compared to the remaining 81,262 women without gestational diabetes. During the follow up of 12 years, it was found that 2,214 (around 30 percent of the women with gestational diabetes) developed diabetes after their pregnancy. Whereas, just 2,596 (3 percent of the women without gestational diabetes) developed diabetes after pregnancy. Further, women with a history of gestational diabetes had a 70 percent increased risk of having a cardiovascular disease following pregnancy. However, when those who did not develop diabetes after pregnancy were considered, the risk declined to 13 percent. The above findings highlight the importance of diabetes prevention in pregnant women.