2nd round of blood tests - necessary?

[AmyP]

I am not keen on having my second routine lot of blood tests as my veins are a mile deep and the whole thing is always such a rigmarole, have to go to hospital etc. Taking the last lot was really traumatic and I fainted in front of my 1 year old.

The midwife said they only check for glucose and blood type but that I should have the tests because high glucose can mean a big baby and I couldn't have a VBAC if the baby was big (garbage or what?!).

Didn't have any abonormalities in blood test with first pregnancy....
What do you guys think I should do?

can they not just do the wee on a stick test for the glucose at the mo.....

.if they know your blood type already, then it won;t have changed since the last pg..!!

..if your wee on a stick tests indicate an issue with glucose, take it from there.....

big baby and no VBAC is nonsense.IMHO...plenty of women have given birth to larger babies vaginally after a c.s ...how big was your first baby and was diabetes an issue then..?

you cannot be forced to have blood tests..and if they are terribly traumatic and possibly unnecessary you can refuse.....if they are insistent then you should take someone with you for moral support!!

Thanks lulumama, I felt she was trying to scare me into having it done by saying I wouldn't be able to have the VBAC! 1st baby was 6lb 4oz at 39.5 weeks so not big at all and no problems ever with diabetes or high glucose levels. I have decided to let the local nurse have a go and if she can't do it I will give the tests a miss.

if your first baby was that size at term,, would be fairly unlikely, esp with no history of diabetes for you to produce a ten pounder!!

i wish you every success in going for your VBAC!! i had mine 16 months ago and am still floating on air!! go for it!

you should have the blood test - they test for a reason and they screen for more than just sugar levels (though they are important - diabetes etc)

I have a history of fainting and also have invisible veins - often ending up bruised for weeks - but who cares about that when the health of your baby is concerned?!?!

i agree sleepfinder, but Amy's OP was that the test is for blood type and glucose....and the blood type has not changed and glucose can be tested for by wee on a stick. i am not saying bury your head in the sand , and she has had her first lot of bloods done..if they are to discover info that is already know and to pick up a problem , traceable by other means...why be traumatised?

the baby's health is not being monitored solely by these blood tests......

you can refuse scans and all sorts of diagnostic tests if you wish.....

I understand that the routine blood tests cover

hep B & C
HIV
and lots of other things...all a potential risk to an unborn baby and catch-able during pregnancy and only detectable thereafter,

I had not wanted to specify before, only tried to indicate, its not just blood type and glucose...

that is covered by the initial tests at booking in or a little later ASFAIK..and amy has had those , unless i am reading her OP wrong....esp. bearing in mind what the midwife has said....

i see where you are coming from though...and i personally had all the tests, but can see why AmyP is not keen to have them done again...

The bloods at 28 weeks test for blood glucse, antibodies in the blood (that may develop since the last test) and your HB (IRON) level.

So its not really blood group they're testing for, but any weird antibodies such as anti-d, anti-e, etc. They don't retest for HIV, HepB at 28 weeks.

Crosspost Lulumama

thank you for the clarification Binkacat...

double x post !!

erm, well my 2nd blood tests did cover everything again, because I was given the results that nothing had changed on all of them...

maybe it depends on where you're being tested...

Maybe some areas do retest everything, but any that do aren't following NICE guidelines. The guidelines recommend testing for those I mentioned.