Planning a pregnancy

[GemmaC]

Hi,


Just wondered how much help and support people have received from their diabetic doctor and nurse when planning a pregnancy? I'm working really hard to get my sugar levels to the targets they want but all my appointments keep getting cancelled. I'm keen to start trying as soon as possible as I'm 34 and don't want to wait much longer but finding it difficult to get in to see them to discuss my Hba1c results. Any advice?

 

[DCUKMod]

Hi,


Just wondered how much help and support people have received from their diabetic doctor and nurse when planning a pregnancy? I'm working really hard to get my sugar levels to the targets they want but all my appointments keep getting cancelled. I'm keen to start trying as soon as possible as I'm 34 and don't want to wait much longer but finding it difficult to get in to see them to discuss my Hba1c results. Any advice?

Oh Gemma - That must be so frustrating for you. Could you call your nurse and see what she has to say on it? Do you know your HbA1c results or are you waiting for those too?

Sorry, it's not a road I have travelled, but trying to think of anything you could do.

 

[lindijanice]

Hey GemmaC, that is such an exciting prospect - have fun If you live in the UK, I don't, but recall some saying that you can sign up to get all your results on line....I think you need to call your gp office and have the receptionist get you signed up....hope that helps. blessings/L Welcome to the Forum - a great place for learning and support

 

[jade88]

Hi Gemma,
Are you attending a pre conception clinic? I found them more helpful and invested than my usual doctor and nurses! Also if you call your doctors surgery the receptionist might be able to look up your results on the computer x

 

[GemmaC]

Oh Gemma - That must be so frustrating for you. Could you call your nurse and see what she has to say on it? Do you know your HbA1c results or are you waiting for those too?

Sorry, it's not a road I have travelled, but trying to think of anything you could do.

It's very frustrating! The nurse just tells me they're under pressure with appointments and can't see me until March, I was supposed to see her the beginning of January. I've not seen the doctor in over a year and she was supposed to see me January too but again my appointment has been cancelled. I don't know what my Hba1c is at the moment, I've actually made an appointment with the practice nurse to ask her to do some blood tests as I'm sick of waiting.

 

[GemmaC]

Hey GemmaC, that is such an exciting prospect - have fun If you live in the UK, I don't, but recall some saying that you can sign up to get all your results on line....I think you need to call your gp office and have the receptionist get you signed up....hope that helps. blessings/L Welcome to the Forum - a great place for learning and support

Thank you for you reply. I will certainly ask about getting my results online.

 

[GemmaC]

Hi Gemma,
Are you attending a pre conception clinic? I found them more helpful and invested than my usual doctor and nurses! Also if you call your doctors surgery the receptionist might be able to look up your results on the computer x

Hi, thank you for replying. I'm not attending any clinics like this, the nurse did mention it when I seen her last but I've had nothing through to attend. I've made an appointment with my practice nurse to get my bloods taken so hopefully that will provide me more information.

 

[paulus1]

seems my post was deleted because it was tasteless me bad. basically if your well controlled and healthy theres nothing stopping you. you will be monitored more and fussed over. so i wish you well on your future motherhood. is that tasteful enough.

 

[jade88]

I would suggest you make an appointment with your GP and ask them to refer you to your nearest pre conception clinic you may find them more helpful and supportive? Also if your not already taking it ask your GP to prescribe you the 5mg dose of folic acid - most teams like you to take for 3 months before you start trying to conceive! Good luck with your journey! xxx

 

[GemmaC]

seems my post was deleted because it was tasteless me bad. basically if your well controlled and healthy theres nothing stopping you. you will be monitored more and fussed over. so i wish you well on your future motherhood. is that tasteful enough.

Thank you, it's hard enough to get in and be monitored by the diabetic team without being pregnant.

 

[GemmaC]

I would suggest you make an appointment with your GP and ask them to refer you to your nearest pre conception clinic you may find them more helpful and supportive? Also if your not already taking it ask your GP to prescribe you the 5mg dose of folic acid - most teams like you to take for 3 months before you start trying to conceive! Good luck with your journey! xxx

I've been to see my GP to check on other medication I'm taking and pregnancy and he said that the diabetic clinic will sort all my care out. I'm already taking the high dose of folic acid. Fingers crossed I can get into see the diabetic doctor and nurse soon! I just feel like if there's no support from them now how will I get support if I'm lucky enough to get pregnant. So frustrating.

 

[eabhamurphy]

I saw the preconception clinic (nurse lead) every two weeks up to conception and then at the same interval now that I'm pregnant but with weekly phonecalls. They got me a pump as I was not able to eliminate highs without hypos (and asked me to hold off on pregnancy plans until I was well established and managing it well) and then got the CGM add on for my pregnancy and for breastfeeding months as well as I lost hypo awareness in my last pregnancy.
I did my first pregnancy outside of the preconception clinic on multiple daily dose injections and it was so much harder and I had hypos all the time.
They are just so supportive. Much better than any other health professionals I've seen. This pregnancy is so much better than my first. Make sure to get into a clinic before conception.
It wasn't made obvious to me that such a clinic existed until I was 16 weeks with my first and seeing the consultant. Then it felt too late to engage with their help and wouldn't have been the right time to change therapy completely.
Good luck!

 

[GemmaC]

I saw the preconception clinic (nurse lead) every two weeks up to conception and then at the same interval now that I'm pregnant but with weekly phonecalls. They got me a pump as I was not able to eliminate highs without hypos (and asked me to hold off on pregnancy plans until I was well established and managing it well) and then got the CGM add on for my pregnancy and for breastfeeding months as well as I lost hypo awareness in my last pregnancy.
I did my first pregnancy outside of the preconception clinic on multiple daily dose injections and it was so much harder and I had hypos all the time.
They are just so supportive. Much better than any other health professionals I've seen. This pregnancy is so much better than my first. Make sure to get into a clinic before conception.
It wasn't made obvious to me that such a clinic existed until I was 16 weeks with my first and seeing the consultant. Then it felt too late to engage with their help and wouldn't have been the right time to change therapy completely.
Good luck!

Thank you for the reply. Glad your pregnancy is going well this time round. Did you get referred to the preconception clinic through the diabetic team or your GP? I'm trying very hard to get my sugar levels balanced I just feel like there's no support.

 

[eabhamurphy]

Thank you for the reply. Glad your pregnancy is going well this time round. Did you get referred to the preconception clinic through the diabetic team or your GP? I'm trying very hard to get my sugar levels balanced I just feel like there's no support.

I only got referred in when I saw the consultant at 16 weeks. You see the endocrinologist and then the obstetrician roughly every four weeks from 16 weeks. I think the GPs gave me the 5mg folic acid but just did a general hospital referral when my pregnancy was booked. Nobody mentioned the nurse clinics to me before my 16 weeks. Before that point my care had gone back to being GP lead from hospital lead as I had moved to a different part of the country.
Then after I had my son I got discharged by the consultant into the nurses care so my follow ups were with them and then I just directed myself into their preconception clinic this time by telling them my intention to have a second child.
What I would recommend is insisting upon a referral into hospital led care pregnancy aside. Have you got a consultant appointment? I would advise you to hold fire on all things until you get clarity on preconception care in your area. Try to get your appointment brought forward or write to the consultant to get booked in with on of their nurses ahead of seeing him/her.
The endo will surely be motivated to prevent unmonitored pregnancies in type one diabetics where they can. The GPS just don't have enough dealing with wanting-to-conceive type 1 women to fully understand the requirements. (In my experience)
My first pregnancy turned out ok but the hypos were both dangerous and exhausting. I really believed that you couldn't have good blood sugars with daily multiple hypos. You will feel much better once you get that support to get your readings as you need them. The pump is brilliant if that turns out to be an option for you!

 

[GemmaC]

I only got referred in when I saw the consultant at 16 weeks. You see the endocrinologist and then the obstetrician roughly every four weeks from 16 weeks. I think the GPs gave me the 5mg folic acid but just did a general hospital referral when my pregnancy was booked. Nobody mentioned the nurse clinics to me before my 16 weeks. Before that point my care had gone back to being GP lead from hospital lead as I had moved to a different part of the country.
Then after I had my son I got discharged by the consultant into the nurses care so my follow ups were with them and then I just directed myself into their preconception clinic this time by telling them my intention to have a second child.
What I would recommend is insisting upon a referral into hospital led care pregnancy aside. Have you got a consultant appointment? I would advise you to hold fire on all things until you get clarity on preconception care in your area. Try to get your appointment brought forward or write to the consultant to get booked in with on of their nurses ahead of seeing him/her.
The endo will surely be motivated to prevent unmonitored pregnancies in type one diabetics where they can. The GPS just don't have enough dealing with wanting-to-conceive type 1 women to fully understand the requirements. (In my experience)
My first pregnancy turned out ok but the hypos were both dangerous and exhausting. I really believed that you couldn't have good blood sugars with daily multiple hypos. You will feel much better once you get that support to get your readings as you need them. The pump is brilliant if that turns out to be an option for you!

I had an appointment with my diabetic nurse last year and we discussed my pregnancy plans so she put me on the folic acid and told me she would get an appointment booked for me with the diabetic doctor asap and she would see me again 6 weeks later. That was over 3 months ago. I've had appointments through but they keep getting cancelled by them. I tend not to go to the GP regarding my diabetes as I don't think they have a full understanding of it but I have made an appointment to see the practice nurse to get my Hba1c checked since the diabetic clinics keep cancelling on me. I don't want to be messing about as time is slipping away from me. I know 34 isn't old but it makes me higher risk and ideally (and hopefully) we'd like more than one child and I don't want to be nearly 40 before that happens

 

[eabhamurphy]

I had an appointment with my diabetic nurse last year and we discussed my pregnancy plans so she put me on the folic acid and told me she would get an appointment booked for me with the diabetic doctor asap and she would see me again 6 weeks later. That was over 3 months ago. I've had appointments through but they keep getting cancelled by them. I tend not to go to the GP regarding my diabetes as I don't think they have a full understanding of it but I have made an appointment to see the practice nurse to get my Hba1c checked since the diabetic clinics keep cancelling on me. I don't want to be messing about as time is slipping away from me. I know 34 isn't old but it makes me higher risk and ideally (and hopefully) we'd like more than one child and I don't want to be nearly 40 before that happens

Is there another hospital you could get referred into? One with a good maternity unit. That level of care doesn't seem very good. You want to see the doctor to look at blood work, like thyroid function etc but an appointment every six weeks with a nurse seems totally insufficient. Yeah I totally get your wanting to get things moving. 100%.

 

[GemmaC]

Is there another hospital you could get referred into? One with a good maternity unit. That level of care doesn't seem very good. You want to see the doctor to look at blood work, like thyroid function etc but an appointment every six weeks with a nurse seems totally insufficient. Yeah I totally get your wanting to get things moving. 100%.

That's the only hospital for the region. I haven't seen my diabetic doctor in over a year and had to keep on at them to get the appointment with the diabetic nurse last year. I have appointments with them both next month providing they don't get cancelled.

 

[paulus1]

to be fare first pregnancies are the hardest second ones are often the easiest. really good luck if you are or wanting to get pregnant. kids are a blessing enjoy them they soon turn into teens