Did you refuse your GTT? Did it put you at high risk?

[Evergreen17]

I managed to get myself over worried now about the GTT. I am looking for people that either refuse the test on the grounds that they thought it not relevant or people that failed the test and stayed low risk or were moved to high.
I am not looking for people to tell me to have it anyway and what is the big deal, so please don't. I want people with experience and sympathetic to my problem.
So I just dont know why the midwife at the booking did this because the second midwife I saw didnt understand either, but I had a normal BMI at booking and no diabetes history. Apart from grandma but it shouldn't count as she got it when older and they only look at parents. So now I am worried that if I dont pass the test (my friend is a bit of an expert and has sent me research and lots of people dont pass the test because it is a crazy amount of glucose if you are not use to it) then they will put me High risk and I wont be able to have the birth I want 
Any stories?
Please note I suffer from anxiety so be gentle

[Pornflakes]

I don't understand why you wouldn't want the test if I'm honest. I am pregnant and have gestational diabetes and I am fully aware that if this is not controlled then it can cause many issues for your baby, at the worst case can cause stillbirth. I feel everyone should have it, as even if you are considered 'low risk', ie no family history, normal weight, then you can still get it as it's primarily hormonal.

What are your reasons for not wanting the test?

[SolomanDaisy]

I think you need to talk through your anxieties with your midwife (and possibly ask for support from a mental health midwife). If you don't have the test and go through pregnancy with undiagnosed diabetes, you may either end up flagged as a high risk anyway (as your baby may grow too large) or end up with a stressful transfer to hospital as your baby may need help stabilizing their blood sugar. Do you think the possibility of those two options will cause you less anxiety than knowing for sure whether you have GDD?

[Lunde]

I refused the GTT with my second pregnancy. I had hyperemesis with both pregnancies and the GTT with my first pregnancy made me vomit for 48 hours so I refused. I said I was happy to do extra blood/urine testing during pregnancy.

[Evergreen17]

Porn and soloman thank you for your posts but as I said I am not looking for those responses. I have a normal BMI and no history of problems or diabetes or any previous pregnancies.
My anxiety has nothing to do with my decision and of course it has been discussed. Not really sure why are you suggesting that.

Thanks Lunde, this is the lind of experiences I wanted to hear. Ok, so it is possible to refuse the test and get them to pick results from bloods then, thank you.

[ChocChocPorridge]

I refused it with my first (in Canada) - they checked I was sure, then we went on with my home birth plans as usual.

I had it with my second, because I'd been bolshy enough over other things (I was high risk due to weight and previous EMCS) and I could tell that I was annoying them, so I figured I'd do it (Nearly threw up drinking the stuff, fainted twice, felt awful the whole day, had perfect blood tests).

Do talk it through - the point of the test is that if you have GTT the crazy amount of glucose won't be handled right, not that any bad reaction to it means you fail the test (as my results attest) - and it's better to know, so that you can pro-actively keep your carb intake down.

I had a friend who did get GD (and was small and slim), didn't do a good job of keeping the carbs at a sensible level, and ended up with a CS for her absolute michelin man of a baby (who grew out of it fine, but was really very, very fat when born) - so it is an important test.

[Evergreen17]

Soloman I dont need to "ask for support from a mental health midwife" and not sure why to suggest this. My anxiety is social anxiety hence why I said I had it when I asked people to be kind. I also asked NOT to tell me to have it anyway.
I am a scientist and I am very aware of how the test works.

[Evergreen17]

Thank you Choc.
I am planning on discussing it woth midwife because as I said, the first one wrote it on my notes (she also sent the wrong bloods and lost my results for 12 weeks) and the second one said that it shouldnt be there as I have no factors.
Thanks you for sharing.

[ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay]

I understand your reluctance to have it for the slight chance your birth plan and care may change unnecessarily BUT if you did have it and it was undiagnosed the outcome for the baby could be catastrophic. Both of my gestational diabetes babies were normal weight so being measured at antenatal appointments and scans etc would never have picked up on the dangerous levels of glucose crossing my placenta and causing damage to it. My fluid levels were also normal so the baby looked fine. But they were not. Had I not been started on medication the damage to my placenta could have ultimately ended in still birth

[sycamore54321]

Sorry OP when it comes to health issues, some posters don't like being censored to tell stories of "I ignored medical advice and it turned out fine" only. You don't need to be reading nonsense on the internet. You need to talk to your medical team.

Also, the first test is just a screen, to see of you require the more precise second test so even a 'fail' on the first one doesn't mean anything at all - it is precisely because not everyone reacts uniformly to the first screen that they have the second stricter one. So internet tales of people having issues with first test don't mean a thing.

I'm typing this while in waiting room for my test - it is standard for all pregnancies in my country and I'm glad it is.

[Evergreen17]

Itslike thanks for your post. I see what you mean, so you did have GD but it wasnt picked up?
Ok this os something for me to think about.
What worried me is that it is a mistake as it looks like it but that then I take the test (note here that the way the test works with fasting for 12 hours is very different to what other countries do and that I have read reports stating that this way you get a lot of false positives, hence losing your right to the birth you want when you actually dont have GD) and I fail the test because the UK has abnormal high rates of positives for this test.

Hence I get a false positive.

I also wanted to know if by getting a positive for GD on the test you are automatically put as high risk

[Nikki2ol6]

Hi I have refused mine. I have children already and never had it, having 3 kids and a 1 year old is very hard and trying to find a baby sitter to take them to school for me while I take my 1 year old to sit still for 2 hours is impossible. So I have refused to do the test this time round and told them I'm doing it myself at home. My friends child has type1 diabetes and I often look after him for her, I have a spare monitor here for him so I can use that on myself after having my morning cup of tea on a weekend. If my hospital did weekend apps I'd have no issues.

[Evergreen17]

Thanks sycamore. I am not getting the first test fail from the Internet, but from peer reviewed papers sent by a medical professional friend of mine.
When some of my friends had their babies years ago they failed the first, the screening that you call it, and passed the second, the bloods. However, they had to fight hard to get that second done as back then and in some places it is the only one you get.
If I was offered what you mention, a screening and the bloods I wont have a problem.
My concern comes from the knowledge that the way the lucozade test is performed in the nhs gives a lot of false positives that need to be followed up by bloods or do a better test

[Pornflakes]

You don't necessarily lose the right to the birth you want. If it's controlled well then my diabetic team have been quite flexible and it's no different to a 'normal' birth. The benefits of the screening far outweigh the negatives, and honestly birth plans often go out the window when it comes down to it - I speak from experience with my first when my waterbirth with no pain relief turned into an emergency section. The main thing is that your baby gets the best possible care.

[SolomanDaisy]

You said you had anxiety and it appears to be impacting on your decisions about your pregnancy, so I'm not sure why you would think it's so outrageous to suggest talking to a mental health midwife. MN really isn't the kind of forum where people will just pat you on the head and tell you what you want to hear.

If you have read about the test and its international use extensively you'll be aware that the UK actually uses a higher cut off point than that recommended by the WHO so women who in other countries would be diagnosed with gestational diabetes aren't in the UK. That should cut false positive rates.

[Tootsiepops]

for me, GD meant it was recommended I give birth in hospital. I was fine with that, but no one can make you do anything you don't want.

Maybe you might find this helpful:

• Every woman is free to make choices about her own pregnancy and childbirth, even if her caregivers do not agree with her.

From: www.birthrights.org.uk/advice/your-rights/

[LifeIsGoodish]

With all my pregnancies sugar started appearing in my urine at about 30-33w. With my first I had a fasting blood-test, which was fine and they decided not to send me for GTT. But I was given dietary advice and told that if it happened again they would recommend that I have the GTT. I used diet to keep my sugars under control and dc1 was born healthy.

With dc2&3, GTTs were more common. With dc2 they wanted to send me for GTT as soon as sugar began appearing, but I refused. Again, I controlled my blood sugar with diet and dc2 was born healthy.

With dc3 they wanted to send me for GTT several times because of my history, despite the fact that my bloods were always fine. Again, I refused. Again my sugars climbed in the last weeks, and again I controlled them with diet. And dc3 was also born healthy.

My perspective was that if I did have GD, the first line of treatment would in any case be diet. So why impose a restrictive label on myself? I was well-monitored, and had I been unable to control my sugars with diet, then I would have co-operated with a GTT for my baby's benefit.

[Sackmagique]

I think you need to be prepared that you might not get the birth you want regardless of whether you take the test or not. It's great to have a birth plan, but it needs to be flexible and sometimes, it needs to be thrown out the window entirely.

[Evergreen17]

Thanks nikki, and good luck with the pregnancy. Good to hear different reasons.
Sycamore I just realised if you are in a different country you have a different test. Here is 1 test, the lucozade test, with 12 hours fasting, no follow up.
Thank you porn, this is very useful, of course we all want the best for our babies. I want to have a birth that I can only have if I am low risk, which is why I am worried.
So you are saying that after being diagnosed and with the monitoring you stayed low risk? Thanks
Soloman my anxiety is not impacting on my decisions about my pregnancy. This is very condescending and actually a very mean thing to say I have not had any treatment for it for three years because I manage it very well, to a point where my medical team have said it is not even worth going on my notes.
I am trying to make the best informed decision I can and this is why I am asking here.
You seem to know very little about mental health or how it works and how you shouldnt talk to people when they ask for help.
To say my anxiety is affecting my decisions when you dont know me or my history is very wrong.

[Elllicam]

I was low risk for GD with my second, no family history, healthy weight, healthy lifestyle, 1 previous pregnancy with no GD. So they didn't test me until 36 weeks when I was measuring very large for dates, turned out I had really uncontrolled GD I was put onto metformin and induced 3 weeks later with a 9lb 6 baby. I am so bloody glad it was picked up and DS2 was ok.

[Evergreen17]

And solomon it is not about the cut point, it is about how the actual test is performed

[IPityThePontipines]

You won't "lose the right to have the birth you want". As pointed out upthread, it doesn't work like that.

If you want to give birth in the middle of Asda on a Saturday morning, or half way up a mountain, you can. You can't get arrested for not giving birth in a hospital.

However, depending on your circumstances, your midwife/obstetric consultant may advise you as to what type of birth will produce the safest outcome for you and your baby.

But that they can't force you to take that advice.

However, the fact you seem to fixated on the GTT and "not having the birth I want" is ringing alarm bells, because there is absolutely no guarantee of having the "perfect birth experience". None.

[Pornflakes]

My GD was diagnosed at 28 weeks and I am now still diet controlled at 38 weeks, sugars are all fine but I know it's a fine line and that not controlling it would be all too easy. It's true you have more monitoring with GD, but that's a good thing and all is well with me at the moment. Hope that helps

[Evergreen17]

Thank you Tootsie this is very helpful. Yes, I have heard about the right to choose, actually from midwives. I will check that out thank you.
Lifeisgood this is exactly what I have heard from other friends. I am happy to control my diet, particularly when O have no risk factors and it appears to have been a mistake from midwife. I dont want that label to be stuck on my file if I dont need to.
Sack yes, good point and I am aware. I just want to make sure my options are open until the end, not close a door because of a mistake or a test that gives false positives.
Ipity thanks for your post. What I mean is that I want to have access to options that I was told I had by midwives. I know that things can change and when bubba is due I will go where these options take me. But I was told at this birth place that they only accept low risk pregnancies which is why I am asking, I dont know if a positive on the GTT would class me as High Risk and this is what O was trying to find out

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

Lifeisgood - did you have your blood sugars checked regularly? Blood tests agreed as part of the normal ante natal process despite not having the GTT or did they test via urine.

[Evergreen17]

Thank you Porn this is reassuring. I am all for being monitored if needed, I am doing my scans and appointments religiously, bug I want to be informed and know what happens with the what ifs. If when I speak to midwife about this being an error if she says nope it is not, if the test is positive and so on.
In the meantime I am going to keep exercising and cut down the treats. Seems that can only be a good thing