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Pre pregnancy

S

sonyaax

Newbie
Messages
3
Location
Aberdeenshire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, i'm a type 1 diabetic, been for 2 years. I am seriously thinking of having a baby but i have so much worries. My HBa1C was at 7.4% at my recent clinic, but was wondering if there was anything i needed to look out for or start doing before i became pregnant? Not sure when i want to conceive but realistically by the end of the year. The big question also, when will i ask for a referral to a pre pregnancy clinic?

Any advice would be great! :)
 
Hi,
You should ask for referral now for pre-preg counselling. That way you will have time to make preparations they want. Ideally they will want your hba1c as close to 6.1 as possible, you will need folic acid 5mg before pregnancy (to reduce the risk of spina bifida) and if you have any more medical problems your doctors will want to get them under control ASAP.
Hope that's helpful.
Jess


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thanks, yeah thats a great help. I really wasnt sure on when to ask for the referral because a diabetic doctor (not mine) told me to do it once i had came off the pill. But i thought that would be a bit too late. I just want everything to be right!
 
You're right...they were talking rubbish....best to go way before then as lots of planning better for overall outcomes and will help you feel better about things.
Good luck!
Jess


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I am in a similar position and have a normal appointment in early April so I am going to mention that I am thinking about it then and take it from there, I know you need the high dose folic acid though and I have had a read of the NICE guidelines for pregnancy so I am trying to aim for the targets in there though it's hard work and I'm not even trying yet!
 
Hi I was in the same position in November. I saw my diabetic nurse who gave me insulin to get my sugar levels down and told try when I felt like it.
I've since changed the nurse I was seeing as this was rubbish advice. I did my homework and knew I needed to get my sugar levels below 7 before I even thought about it.
It's taken me 3 months to learn what triggers my highs and lows but I'm now around 7.1 on average now. It's taken a lot of hard work and will of course take 9 months of even harder work. I'm on high dose of folic acid and on a low carb diet, which has helped immensely. Good luck....all this hard work will pay off in the end I'm sure :)
 
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