Checking babies sugars at birth (after gestational diabetes)

[sparklyblue81]

I’m on baby number 4 but it’s the first time I’ve had Gestational diabetes. I know they check the baby’s sugars after birth but I’m just wondering what the process is if anyone knows?

How soon after birth do they check baby’s sugars & how (is it like a heel prick test where you can hold bubs while it’s done or do they take them away to do it?). Trying to make my birth plan & want uninterrupted initial skin to skin time if possible.

Thanks x

For my DD it was just a heel prick test. They did it because she was very large though not because I had GD.

It was done in the delivery room whilst I fed her.

They can do most tests/exams while you hold your baby (though you might have to point that out to them).

If it's something you think you might be uncomfortable with you can ask in advance what evidence the recommendation is based on so you can look it up and decide whether it's best for your baby.

All medical care is optional; it's you, as the parent, who decides what happens to your child.

Mine had his first during the first checks after first feed so around an hour after delivery. The second they done a few hours later and the third was done during discharge as was forgotten about.

As above, it's a heel prick. Mine had to have it done due to medication I had to take that can cause low blood sugar in baby. If I recall correctly, he had to have 2 tests which showed his blood sugar maintained or increased following a feed. He was fine and it only took the first two to demonstrate this.

They did recommend I harvested some colostrum incase we needed separate care (I had/have a high risk heart condition) or if he couldn't feed for some reason (as it turned out he couldn't latch at all) so it might be worth discussing that with your midwife if you haven't already.

As people have said, it’s a heel prick test just after birth. Mine was done straight away because he was small and slightly early so he was whisked away to be checked anyway. His first few tests came back as him having low blood sugar so he was given a little glucose drink each time. I think it was by the third test that his sugars had stabilised and then I think he had two more tests because they had to have three good results, although I might have remembered that wrong.

Good luck with everything!

Thanks ladies that’s really helpful to know. I’m happy for him to have the monitoring but I’ll put it on my plan that I want him to stay with me while it’s done if at all possible 👍 Already set to start colostrum harvesting next week in case it’s needed as well x