Gestational Diabetes Breastfeeding?

[Newmum110]

So I have been diagnosed with the dreaded Gestational Diabetes.
I have met with the GD nurse & am happy enough with what I need to do food wise etc.
My main concern is around breastfeeding. I haven't done it for previous pregnancy and did not want to do it this time around (for personal reasons, I know people have their own opinions on what is best).
Anyways the nurse has told me that due to GD it is important for baby and for me to breastfeed. Is this true? I know the nurses generally encourage it and while I do want the best for my baby it would be a massive preference for me not to breastfeed.
Has anyone had GD and not breastfeed? Did this cause any issues for you or baby?
Disappointed to have the GD diagnosis without this extra issue.

Breastfeeding does have many health benefits for you and baby - but assume you know that anyway! For you it’s the reduction in cancer risk which is the big bonus.
Found this on Le leche league which says -

For you (as a diabetic mother)

Breastfeeding increases your insulin sensitivity and has long term positive effects on your glucose metabolism.
• For Type-1 diabetes, breastfeeding will reduce the amount of insulin you need.
• For Type-2 diabetes, breastfeeding will reduce the severity of your diabetes.
• For Gestational diabetes, breastfeeding significantly reduces your risk of developing diabetes later in life.

never knew that, only the cancer side of things - interesting. More info on their website, but it’s upto you if you want to breastfeed or not.

FF wouldn’t cause immediate issues for either of you.

However longer term there is evidence that breastfeeding helps reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes (as you will know, women who get GD are much more at risk of type 2) and it also appears to reduce the chances of your child getting diabetes later in life too

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/breastfeeding/

A halfway option might be to BF for a short period - even if only the first week or so, for the colostrum.

It is of course entirely your choice.

Thanks, some food for thought (pardon the pun), may have to adjust my own feelings to do what is best.

You have to make the right decision for you as well as your baby as your baby also needs a happy Mum. Even if breastfeeding “significantly reduces the risk of X” the reduction in risk may be rather small for the individual and most studies haven’t accounted for other differences in lifestyle between the BF and FF groups so a lot of studies are not conclusive (it is very difficult to tease out the role of one factor like BF in isolation). You can look a bit more into the actual research if you are interested before making a decision.

I had GD and did want to BF, partly for the reasons stated by PP but didn’t manage to due to undiagnosed tongue tie and other factors and am now happily FF. I probably would have quit BF even sooner of it hadn’t been for the advice to try due to GD and in the unlikely event of another pregnancy I would be tempted to go straight for FF as the struggle to BF added a lot of stress to those early weeks.

I'm a veteran GDer and BFer OP. They will likely suggest expressing pre birth as the colostrum is extremely beneficial to babies born with low bloods due to GD. It's not hard to do and will help baby. As will diet / drug management, so keep on top of your sugars and don't get lax on testing.

All those benefits after that are as much for you as for baby as PP have said, and it will obvs help you shed weight which also helps reduce the risk of type 2. Not BF was never an option for me, but choice is everything. You absolutely don't have to and will hardly harm your baby, but you know yourself the benefits are there. Worth trying for a few days to see if your feelings resolve, maybe, depends on your reasons. If its going to trigger massive trauma I wouldn't put yourself through it.

So weird I had GD in both pregnancies and this was never mentioned to me

@70billionthnamechange did you formula feed? I'm presuming your babies have had no issues??

Not hard to do??? Might have been the case for you but certainly wasn’t the case for me- did everything I could do to try and get some colostrum pre birth, sat in the bath listening to YouTube videos of babies crying like a nutter and barely got half a drop. Pressure from the midwife and all the GD groups made me feel like I’d failed at being a mum before my baby was even born.

Anyway OP, I had GD and only managed to breastfeed for less than a week and we’re both fine. DD never had any troubles with her blood sugars and mine are also fine- get checked every year. I don’t intend to breastfeed next time I’m pregnant and assume chances are I will have GD again so you’re not alone there.

Videos of other peoples babies??? How strange, was that advised by a midwife?Lovely your baby was well. My 2nd has very low sugars and the colostrum really helped him. Everyone is different, obviously.

OP if you do want try, you are only likely to get drops. That's normal. It's rich enough to be useful nonetheless. If you can't express it (which is not unusual, babies are much more efficient than hand or machine pumping) you certainly haven't failed, formula is a fine substitute IF your baby does have low sugars. As I said before, choice is everything and that is what formula is for.

I had GD, my dd was induced as she was measuring small. I planned on breastfeeding but while I was showering after the birth, they checked her blood sugars and insisted she was given formula as she was borderline. So I came out of the shower to be told I could breast feed but I'd have to top up with formula.

I exclusively breast fed for 5 days after this initial bottle, but for personal reasons I stopped and she had formula. She gained weight really well and has stayed around the 50th centile, despite being a tiny baby (5lb 6oz).

Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

No I actually did breastfeed but not for long, 6 months. But they never once told me I had to because of the GD. In fact I was adamant I wasn't going to BF and they didn't try and talk me out of it. Then that damn baby made me do it when he came out anyway 😂😂

Thanks everyone for all the information. I will speak with my consultant about it also. Obviously don't want to cause any harm to my baby but unless there are definite reasons to do it I would much prefer to stick with what I am comfortable with.

Just to add, at no point did any of the consultants or midwives discuss breastfeeding in response to my GD diagnosis. The focus was placed on induction after 37 weeks and blood sugar management during labour. Breastfeeding or formula feeding was never mentioned.

I had GD with my first pregnancy and did not BF, I was not put under any pressure to or given any advice relating to BF to improve outcomes for GD purposes by Midwives in hospital or community or my consultant. My daughter is 20 months now, very healthy had no issues and was a very settled baby, slept through the night from 6 weeks, fed well on formula. My Hba1c blood tests post party had gone back to normal range. I am now 29 weeks pregnant with second baby and this week been diagnosed with GD again and I do not plan to breastfeed this time either. I plan to do what I am comfortable with and what worked well for all of us first time around and see how we get on this time. I have lots of friends who tried to BF but were unable to for various reasons. The pressure and stress it caused them in the first few weeks post Partum is another reason I want to stick with what worked well for us first time around. Good luck with what you decide.

"while I do want the best for my baby it would be a massive preference for me not to breastfeed" if you really want the best for baby can you address the issues making you reluctant to breastfeed? It really does set baby up for a healthier life - look it up on WHO website.

It's always unpopular on here but the scientific reality is breastfeeding is best for your baby so why not look it up on the gestational diabetes website and see?

From what I recall GD increases the chances of your baby growing up to develop type two diabetes and breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of type two.

It may be a sacrifice if you aren't keen, but your baby's health would be improved for it. Not to mention less likelihood of some childhood cancers compared to formula fed babies. I won't go into all the benefits for you too. It's not easy for everyone but generally by 12 weeks you've gotten over the hurdles and are away.

My milk never came in, so dd had formula. She was absolutely fine.

Breastfeeding also reduces the chance that your child will develop diabetes later on.