GD checks during labour and on bubs after birth ?

[joel's girl]

Just wondering what I can expect in the way of checks / extra monitoring of me during labour b/c of gestational diabetes. Also what do they do with bubs once his born. A midwife did mention that it was hospital policy to do the checks on bubs in room and only take them away if special care is necessary but she didn't elaborate what would be done to bubs in detail.

What was your experience ???? I understnad policies will vary from hospital to hospital etc.....

Thanks in advance ladies

[Visitor9]

JG,
Eliza had a heel ***** test done at birth and then at 4 hrly inters for the first 24 hrs. She had fine BSL which was suprising as she was sooo big at the birth so much the paed told me it looked like I hadnt got my sugars undercontrol ( I was on insulin 4 times daily and high doses). I wasnt tested at all until my 6 week post check up and that came back clear as well. As for if they do have BSL at birth I'm not too sure

[aussienic]

I developed GD during my last 2 pregnancies. ( I also have it again) With Isaac he was monitored for sugar levels every few hours for a while but his were fine. I had a c/s so he was straight in special care.. not due to the GD.. my 3rd baby Jacob had very low blood sugars when he was born and needed hourly sugar tests. I think they drew a little bit of blood from his heel. he was in special care as well and I didnt see him till 11 hours later.. Once again due to the c.s not the GD..

This time round I have asked what the policy will be.. Baby will be taken to special care and be monitored for a few hours which is normal practice for GD and c/s baby.. I assume if you have a natural they will just checl baby in your room and as long as all is well they won't take them anywhere.. but if baby's sugar levels are low they may take them to special care for closer monitoring

[Tobily]

Alot depends on whether you're on insulin during pregnancy.
I've had GD with both of mine, the first time I was on insulin and the second time it was easily controlled with diet.

When my first bub was born I had regular finger pr!cks during labour (my labour was pretty long), and she was taken to special care for observation about an hour after birth. While she was there they did heel pr!cks on her every 4 hours. She was fine and I was none to happy about the separation and heel pr!cking for no other reason than "hospital policy" and so was determined to get around it with my second baby.

Luckily I wasn't on insulin with him which made things much easier. He was never heel pr!cked, did not go to special care and was with me from birth, there was no separation at all. But before he was born I had discussions with the hospital about what had happened with my daughter and they said they'd put her in special care for a combination of reasons - GD, long labour, and the fact I'd developed a fever towards the end of labour (hardly surprising since I'd been awake 36 hours and hadn't eaten...honestly you have to wonder sometimes...)

During labour you'll probably find that the GD will cause them to take a more interventionist approach to your labour - BSL checks, fetal monitoring, they'll be more paranoid about infection so they'll want to take your temp alot, they'll also probably want an IV in ...it tends to get trotted out as the excuse for everything under the sun. So if you're looking for a low intervention labour it might be wise to think about what you want in this area as well.

[joel's girl]

Thanks for the info ladies.............Sounds like GD is often used as an excuse with very little need for intervention.

Hoping to birth naturally and avoid bubs being in special care.

P.S Im going to hospital on monday morning to have my waters broken then see how things progress as I'm already 1cm dilated. Hoping also for minimal intervention.............we'll see !!!

Thanks again....

[aussienic]

Good Luck... I hope you have a nice smooth labour!!

[Artechim]

I was insulin controlled GD. During labor they took BSL readings every hour. Although I had hardly eaten anything all night, the levels were rising. After two results above 7 they put me on a drip. There were two lines - one insulin and one glucose - to keep a good balance so I didn't go too high or too low. When bubs was born they did a heal ***** in the room and that was fine. He had to go to special care because of a bit of trouble breathing but if there weren't any other problems he would have been able to stay with me. I had to feed him every three hours and his BSL was taken until he had two consecutive results over 3. His sugar was good, so it just ended up being the birth heal ***** then the two after meal ones.

The lady in the bed next to me also had GD, her son had low sugar but he was allowed to stay with her - they did hourly monitoring heal *****s and gave him a top up bottle to raise his sugar.

[Mel09]

Just quickly, I was diet controlled with Kiara and they finger pr!cked me now and then in hosp after the birth, as my levels were back to normal the next day they haven't tested again since... As for Kiara, they tested her with heel pr!ck once and as she was fine they didn't bother her again!

This tim round I hope either not to get it at all or to again be diet controlled...

Good Luck... fingers crossed for a nice smooth and not tooooo long labour!

[Inanna]

I had GD with my last baby. She was a waterbirth - no intervention. Her BSls were checked at birth and she was hypoglycaemic. I fed her continually but they continued to drop. She was given some glucose and was fine. There was absolutely no separation of me from my baby.
If you have gd it's a good idea to express some colostrum and freeze it in the weeks leading up to your due date. Colostrum is the quickest and most affective way of raising a baby's bsl. I didn't know that then but this time I do and I will be expressing away in the weeks before the birth!