What do midwives mean when they say "They won't let you go over"?

[chellebelle]

Have been for a m/w appt today and she's sending me for testing for GD. I am absolutely gutted If it turns out I have GD she says my homebirth goes completely out of the window (I have nice heated pool being delivered on Friday and DH has spent all morning getting the room ready for it).

She says there is no way they will let me go over. Anyone know what this actually means? Does this mean they'll induce me the week before I'm due or the week that I'm due or what? Am very confused and quite upset

I think it means that they won't let you pass your due date ??

Hi,

Don't panick yet. Lots of woman get sent for tests for Gd and get the all clear. I actually refused to go for my test as I thought the mw was overeacting, and my next urine tests came back clear so I was fine. Over is past 40 weeks, which means they would prob book you in for 40 weeks. Why did they say that?

what is GD? is this the glucose tolerance test?

Well, actually - it's not up to them! It's your body and baby, so ultimately the decision is entirely yours. All they can do is advise you what to do, and "offer" you induction - whether you choose to do it or not is up to you. Unfortunately, the language many midwives and consultants use implies that you HAVE to do what they say, and this simply isn't true. Have you looked at www.homebirth.org.uk/ ?

Obviously you don't want to put the baby at risk, but it's definately worth investigating the matter further, getting second opinions etc before just taking they're word for it and doing what they say.

If you scroll down on the homebirth website and click on the "you can't have a homebirth because... " link, that takes you to further information about homebirths and gestational diabetes

chellebelle - do you have any of the signs of GD? (e.g. sugar in your urine or faintness - neither is an absolute sign as they can occur anyway?) or is there some other reason for the OGGT (oral glucose tolerance test?) I was given a test last week for it (not painful, just a couple of finger pricks and a sugary drink) and the docs said they were positive I would come back positive for GD as my random glucose in another blood test was high. I got the results today and I'm negative for GD so all is clear. Don't worry till you get the results and even then they will depend on how bad your glucose intollerance is. How many weeks are you?

The reason they like to induce before 40 weeks (usually 38 weeks) in ladies with GD is because the placenta can Fur up a bit as time goes along giving a slight rise in still births. The other reason is that babies born to mothers with GD can be significantly larger than average and need more intervention (ventouse, forceps) if they get a bit stuck. Even if you do turn out to have GD they will scan you to get a vague idea of the babys size. Sometimes babies born to mums with GD can get a bit of a "hypo" (a sugar low" when they are born and need regular heel pricks to see how their blood glucose is. They are sometimes given sugar water to drink from a cup or bottle to regulate their levels (on other occasions the baby is fine) but they do like to check the levels periodically and often keep you on the post natal ward for 24 hours to do this.

Try not to worry till you get the results back and then take the advice of the doctors at the hospital. It doesnt necessarily mean an end to your dreams of a nice heated home birth - good luck!

You can have a homebirth as far as I know, you need to CAT Hunker she had GD and will know more than me.

Have texted her for you.

chellebelle, you are perfectly within your rights to still push for a home birth, the reason they would be concerned about going past dates, is due to women with GD having larger babies, however if you control your sugar intake and receive adequate support there is no reason why this should be the case. If i were you I would go on the radical midwives site and do a search on GD and homebirths, there is lots of great info on there. I had gd and was induced, however i would definately not do it again and would fight alot harder, good luck x

Bump for Hunker, Hunker is the house.

is in the house even.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Hockeymum - yes have had +2 glucose in urine for the past two m/w appts which is why she's sending me for the test now.

M/w said that if I was on insulin for the GD (if tests came back positive) she wouldn't be happy about me having a home birth cause apparently sugar levels etc go up and down a lot in labour.

My next appointment with the m/w isn't until I'll be 38 weeks so maybe I'll just start trying natural methods of induction (rlt and pineapple etc) and go into labour before they have chance to do anything else

Still not sure what is meant by "won't let you go over". A friend at work who is due 5 days before me is booked in to talk about induction the week she is due because of small baby and failing placenta with her first and they said to her they won't let hetr go over. She's in a completely different area to me though so don't know whether that'd be the same for me or whether it's be 38 weeks as hockeymum says?

Hi Chellebelle,
I had GD with DS and they constantly threatened to induce early, starting at 37 weeks. Each week that went by they then said - we'll give it another week - in the end I was induced at 41 weeks (he was 8lb 13oz) as the risks of the baby getting too big and placenta failing seem to increase. All in all it was weeks of worry and uncertainty that amounted to nothing.
This time I've been diagnosed GD again and apart from a growth scan next week no-one has mentioned induction and I've been a lot more assertive.
If you are diagnosed there's a lot you can do to help yourself, sticking religiously to the diet that should control it and monitoring your sugars with a simple kit they give you. TBH they'd never have "caught" me this time if it wasn't for an unfortunate incident with a flapjack last week, by following the diet from day one I'd kept my glucose traces right down and avoided being labelled "GD".
Not sure about the home birth aspect - I'm a hospital girl all the way I'm afraid.
If you do get a dx of GD feel free to get in touch and we'll comiserate together!

Thanks, LGJ - sorry, only just seen this thread.

I had GD and they "let" me go six days over. But DS2 arrived at 40+4 so wasn't induced in the end. There had been concerns about the baby's growth, but he's fine.

If you do have GD, post again for more support about your birth choices. Otherwise, enjoy your home waterbirth!

I had GD with my pregnancies and I was allowed to go over to 42 weeks I think it depends how big baby is because sometimes a side effect of GD is a big baby mine werent I thought you could still have a home birth though

good luck hope the test comes back negative for you x

Sniff, my baby was measuring small for dates, which is why they wanted to induce me. Think this is less common with GD than a big baby though. He was 8lb 1oz though, so not a weenster!