Breastfeeding (slightly O/T)

[Cate]

Hi ladies,

Can I ask how many of you have breastfed or plan to? Have you had any advice about breastfeeding with type 1? If you have, did you find it caused any problems with hypos? Any tips on avoiding them - especially in hospital, as in ours there's no food available after 5pm?

I'm curious as I was talking to some friends about this earlier, none of us were warned before breastfeeding that we'd need to reduce insulin doses and snack ourselves before each feed etc. The only information I was given was that my insulin requirements would return to pre-pregnancy levels on delivery.

Personally I had a very bad hypo after Hannah was born due to feeding - blood sugar below 1 mmol when I was found unconscious by a midwife (who only bothered to check on me because Hannah had been screaming for over half an hour...). I'm now 30 weeks along with number 2 and will be delivering by section at 36 weeks so I'm starting to get nervous about avoiding the same problems again.

Thanks!

Cate.

 

[sharroneuk]

hi there i breast fed my child (3rd pregnancy) i was diagnosed during pregnancy and my sugar levels dropped fast and i was advised by my midwife tht this does happen as your feeding ur baby your sugars...so when fell pregnant with my fourth child in july 09 i opted out of breastfeeding as i was always tired and hypos not good if ur on your own at home with new baby...hope you find your answer and best of luck..

 

[Twitchy]

Hi Cate,

When I had my first baby in '07 the "wonderful" 🙄 advice I was given was to lower my doses to pre- pregnancy levels so I could "run high and avoid going hypo & smothering the baby"!!!! 😱 (As IF I wasn't stressed enough already lol!!!)

Sadly that was about all the support I got re breastfeeding & diabetes - no one could give me a satisfactory answer re if I did run high & had ketones whether they'd harm baby, or exactly how to juggle blood glucose & feeding! We really struggled with feeding (partly because M was early & V jaundiced) and ended up doing partial breastfeeding with bottle top ups of either expressed milk / formula to make sure M had enough. In the entire time, we only had one 100% breast feed, which was really heartbreaking for me as I'd been a bit brainwashed by the whole NCT/breast is best propaganda machine & felt a right failure! I kept trying to do at least some feeds for 5 months & just ended up being miserable & feeling really ill as you can't tell how much milk the baby's had or how much your sugar levels will change! I'm currently 30 weeks pregnant again, and will be a bit gentler on myself this time... My little lad thrived on aptamil, so if we don't succeed with breastfeeding & the sugar level issues this time I won't worry so much!

Sorry that's not much practical help - I can only suggest checking your sugar levels before feeding & maybe snacking as you feed? Then checking & bolusing after baby' done & settled...I don't think there's an easy method though sadly! I will be trying again, hopefully with more success this time...all the best to you in your endeavors too! 🙂

 

[Emmal31]

Hi cate,

I've just had my baby (she's a week old today) i'm breastfeeding and was given advice from my dsn about ratios a few weeks back i'm finding it very strange going from a ratio of 6 units per 10g to 2 units per 5g. I've had quite a few hypo's because i'm just not used to giving myself so little for such a long time, my insulin requirements went straight back to what they used to be pre pregnancy obviously have to give myself a little less due to breastfeeding. I was in hospital for 5 days so I had lots of coke to hand for hypo's because I didn't trust that they'd get to me in time if I had a bad hypo.

Emma x

 

[Cate]

Congratulations Emma!

I'll ask my DSN at the antenatal clinic next week and see what she says - last time round I didn't get any info at all so hopefully they'll be more forthcoming this time!

I know last time I never fed without having a snack and a drink to hand for me, too - bit of a nightmare but once we got into a routine it was OK. I didn't know about hospital food last time round either (hadn't been in for about 20 years!) so didn't take much in the way of snack food - is it normal for there to be NO food available after 5pm on maternity wards?!

 

[Twitchy]

Hi Cate,

No food available after five sounds more like a workhouse than a maternity ward to me! 😱 In the hospital I was in before, there was a kitchen area where there was bread, butter jam & a toaster etc, so you could help yourself to toast at any time, and a fridge you could keep food in (in plastic boxes, labelled with your name, date etc). There was also a tea/coffee machine at the end of the ward (unfortunately no caffeine free options lol!!!)

Because the food they were serving (apart from breakfast and items like cream crackers) was virtually impossible to carb count, (or digest, but that's another issue!) my hubby ended up bringing me in things like sandwiches, snack bars & salads, and loads of stuff like hard boiled eggs, chicken & cheese (I was passing so much protein I was desperately craving these things lol!). The only problem then was the skanky light fingered cows who didn't seem to understand the concept that stealing other people's stuff is out of order!! 😡 (Honestly, it was like being in student halls again - wouldn't have cared but with the diabetes, having someone nick your food becomes quite an issue & I do get uptight about it grr!!)

Anyway, this time round I'll be taking a load of easy carb count things like mini cereal packs, etc - not ideally healthy, but it should only be for a couple of weeks or so...! 😱