To not have steroids before a 38 week delivery?

[Givinguph0pe]

It seems there and now newish guidelines which say that if you are having a planned c section before 39 weeks you have to have two doses of steroids the week before.

I'm a type 1 diabetic so will be delivered at 38 weeks. What puts me off is I will have to be admitted to hospital for 48 hours as the steroids massively raise your blood sugars. In fact in my experience they raise sugars for around a week (had a previous dose of steroid once when not pregnant) and no amount of insulin really touches them.
I believe the research into the benefit is dubious and I feel so stressed out at the thought of having super high sugars, I think even with hospital management most people find that they still have quite a bit of trouble. Also if I then went into labour before a week after having them - which is possible as ds came on his own at 37 weeks - I would be battling high sugars at the time.

Basically the whole thing makes me feel very anxious. If they weren't going to raise my sugars I'd probably have them although there is some provisional research which may link them to reduced fetal movement and autism.

Aibu to turn them down?

Thanks chat that's a good link to have, obviously I will need to speak to my midwife and consultant at later scans. I am really hoping my placenta moves but I want to be informed so I can make education aged choices. I

It does seem that policies vary from.hospital to hospital so there is some conflicting opinion or is it down to cost, risk)benefit analysis at each hospital? Or just post code lottery?!

Op I hope you can speak to your team and get a second opinion and come to a decision you are comfortable with.

Re induction leading to section, you could always opt for induction but be very specific ie say yes or no to drip, or arm and choose a time scale you are happy with and move onto c section early in the process if it looks like things aren't progressing so it's still a more planned c section rather than waiting to need an emergency one if that makes sense. Fingers crossed all goes well for you.

"Yet your diabetes consultant might well have a different view. This is the problem I find often - you rarely get a Doctor who is prepared to treat the whole you, they just address the part of you that is their specialism. I can't help feeling that if this treatment made you ill, the obstetric consultant would just shrug, call the diabetes consultant and let him/her get on with it."

Dealing with the effects of steroids on pregnant women's blood sugars is very, very routine for diabetes consultants and midwives. Very often diabetic women are seen in clinics jointly (either in consultations straight after one another or even, in some hospitals I've worked in, in the same room) by obs and diabetes.

Steroids do lead to high sugars which means more insulin, and that way round is really better for the baby than the very real risk of respiratory distress in a neonate.

Once you deliver, your insulin requirements will suddenly and dramatically drop, literally within minutes of delivering the placenta, so the steroid effect there really isn't as profound.

Shame,OP.You must be feeling so confused and anxious with all this advice.

We were so reassured as grandparents that our Ddil was offered these steroids as we still remember the Kennedy baby dying from immature lungs.

Wishing you the best and hope all is well!

I second the advice to have a good chat with your the about this, and go through all the options and reasons for advice.

At least the good thing about being micro managed is that there should be someone to explain things to you. Don't accept just advice without explanation - you need to know all the reasons to make a proper choice.

Your team, not your the.

Interesting, I'm type 1 and had my baby in March. I was induced at 36 weeks due to poor growth, although I ended up with an emergency c section. My consultant (obstetrician who specialises in diabetic pregnancies) recommended not to have steroids, against guidelines. To be honest the whole thing was such a roller coaster I can't really remember what her reasoning was. My baby didn't end up having any breathing issues at birth, luck or judgement I don't know. All that said, I had been seeing that same consultant fortnightly throughout the pregnancy so the advice was probably very specific to me.