labour experiences with gestational diabetes

[forevermore]

I am 34+3 with my first baby. Very worried about possiblities of induction / C/S due to gestational diabetes, then being 'tied' to bed during labour (drips galore) and then baby being taken away with low blood sugar afterwards. These are all experiences I have heard of. Could someone please shed light of the reality of any / all of these.

My diabetes is being well controlled at the mo, and growth scans are good. Baby naturally big due to me and hubby being over average people, but nothing more than that.

really begining to fret all day and night now.....really wanted to enjoy these last few weeks, but fear seems to be taking over.

also anyone left with diabetes after the birth?

so many questions so little time.

[northstar]

3yrs ago with ds i had undiagnosed gd, he was too big (for me anyway) and got stuck twice before eventually being born after emergency ventouse and then spending 8days in scbu. He's fine now
In may I gave birth to dd, having been monitored for gd and induced a week early. The labour was very quick (which is usual for second births and with syntocin) and I was glad to be on the bed and tied to the epidural. It was a lovely birth, extremely relaxing and very safe. Dd was 7lb14oz and in perfect health. Hope this helps, feel free to ask me any questions.

[edam]

Hi forevermore.

My sister had gd diagnosed very late (docs and m/w ignored the positive test result at 20something weeks...). Was v. worried and had a difficult time for last few weeks.

In the end, she was induced the day after her due date. Induction isn't great, because you go straight into major contractions without any build up, but once she'd had an epidural it was fine. Her dd was born perfectly healthy, didn't need special care. They kept her in for a week to ensure baby was feeding well (baby is used to being in a sugar-rich enivronment which changes dramatically IIRC). Sister hasn't been left with diabetes either.

Hope this is reassuring.

[honeyflower]

I had GD and was induced at 37 weeks. As far as I understand it, induction at about 38-39 weeks is pretty much the normal practice if you are insulin-dependent, though if you are controlling it successfully by diet alone, you may well be allowed to go to term.

I also found it very stressful and frightening, but actually everything turned out really well. I had a relatively rapid labour, and managed most of it with gas and air, plus pethidine over the period when I was going from about 7cm to fully dilated. Being 'tied to bed' as you put it wouldn't ever have been my choice, and I honestly wasn't convinced that it was really helpful/appropriate. But hospitals are so profoundly wedded to their technology, IME, that they find it very hard to hear its supposed benefits questioned, so I gave in on that.

DD was not unduly large, and was perfectly healthy; we had no problems with low blood sugar. My diabetes cleared up, but I'm aware that having GD is a marker that I'm at future risk for it, so I make an effort to keep weight off/eat healthily/stay active to try and keep it at bay.

I have a work colleague who also had GD, and she had a similarly positive experience. Hope it goes just as well for you!

[Lua]

Hi there,
Just gave birth with GD. Was induced at 39+4. Ended up with normal birth without syntocin. Baby was average weight and had no problems with sugar.
I wasn't pleased with the constant monitoring which prevented me from moving around. However, it was fast and I already don't remember any of it!
Also, just passed gtt! yey!
try not to worry about it, the % of actual complications is very small!

P>S: if you are controlling sugar without insullin you won't need the sliding scale

[WigWamBam]

I had GD from about 20 weeks, it was well controlled with diet and I wasn't on insulin. I was induced at 37 weeks with pre-eclampsia, although the obstetrician told me that the GD meant I would need to be induced if I hadn't gone into labour naturally by 38 weeks anyway. I didn't need any drips, although there was quite a lot of monitoring - I was still able to move around a fair amount though, and one of the midwives did tell me that if I didn't want the frequent monitoring, I was within my rights to refuse it.

My dd was finally born by emergency caesarean, was perfectly healthy and not overly heavy (8lb 8oz). She was borderline for low blood sugar, and the paediatrician demanded that she have blood samples taken every two hours and was force-fed formula every two hours. I refused to formula-feed her, although I did allow the prick tests to be done, but when I became unhappy with them continually stabbing my dd's heel the midwives supported me in my refusal to allow it to happen on the understanding that if dd showed any other signs of being unwell, I would have to agree to the heel pricks and feeding. It wasn't necessary.

My diabetes went away after the birth, although I'm well aware that I'm now more at risk of developing diabetes later. It is possible for the diabetes to remain after the birth, but from what I understand, that's more likely if you have GD in subsequent pregnancies than it is with a first baby.

Just try to relax and enjoy the end of your pregnancy; the likelihood of any complications or problems is really small, and it's not worth raising your blood pressure over!