Researchers are preparing a study to investigate whether environmental factors contribute to Type 1 diabetes, the exact causes of which are unknown.
About 40,000 Australians are estimated to suffer from the chronic disease, with rates doubling over the last two decades.
The disease is less common than Type 2, but has an early onset and researchers want to know whether it can be triggered while babies are still in the womb.
Teams at the University of Adelaide and Women's and Children's Hospital want to recruit up to 1400 women to see whether harmful and protective environmental factors can influence the appearance of the disease in young children.
The long-term study will examine how nutrition, exercise and general health play a role in its development.
Lead researcher Professor Jenny Couper says improvements in genetics will allow a much more detailed look at how the disease can be controlled.
"We're collecting a lot of data from quite early on in the pregnancy," she said.
"We know so much more now about the genes and the way the body's affected by the environment, we think we're much better able to tease out the details.
"We know the very first signs that it's developing occur quite early, often before two years of age.
"We're looking very closely at what [mothers] are eating, we're looking very closely at some of the microorganisms that are living in their bodies."
The study is aimed at women who either have the disease or are closely related to someone who does, and who are either pregnant or have recently given birth.
Professor Couper says information will be gathered from women every few months.
"Up to a third of women now, when they get pregnant, are overweight and that changes things in the pregnancy quite a bit," she said.
"Early weight gains are faster, we're eating different foods, our infections have changed and so has our use of antibiotics.
"We can now look at how those things interact with genes.
"We can also look at how those things affect the biology of the body."
The study is expected to take several years and women in mainland states are eligible to take part.