the_anticarb
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I am pregnant and go on another forum for pregnant ladies, on this there was a pregnant woman who'd been offered the glucose tolerance test because her BMI was above 30, but was put off having the test because of the stigma of diabetes and being fat.
I don't know what I'm more bothered about, the fact that this stigma is now making people shy away from having a test that may indicate they have Gestational Diabetes or the fact that only those with a high BMI or family history of diabetes are screened. Why not all pregnant women, it's not like it's an expensive test to do - a glucose drink and a blood testing kit should do it!
I'm sure there are plenty of women with a BMI below 30 who've had GD and not known - sometimes the only indicator is a big baby at the end but how many stillbirths are due to this? And this policy of only testing the 'fatties' is further stigmatising diabetes as the fat person's disease, which is putting people off being tested for it, which is further nonsense.
This particular person did eventually decide after much persuasion to have the test - but was in two minds about it at first and the 'being thought of as fat' thing was certainly a factor. I think people are embarrassed to have the label of diabetes even if it's just gestational. This illness is becoming stigmatised.
I don't know what I'm more bothered about, the fact that this stigma is now making people shy away from having a test that may indicate they have Gestational Diabetes or the fact that only those with a high BMI or family history of diabetes are screened. Why not all pregnant women, it's not like it's an expensive test to do - a glucose drink and a blood testing kit should do it!
I'm sure there are plenty of women with a BMI below 30 who've had GD and not known - sometimes the only indicator is a big baby at the end but how many stillbirths are due to this? And this policy of only testing the 'fatties' is further stigmatising diabetes as the fat person's disease, which is putting people off being tested for it, which is further nonsense.
This particular person did eventually decide after much persuasion to have the test - but was in two minds about it at first and the 'being thought of as fat' thing was certainly a factor. I think people are embarrassed to have the label of diabetes even if it's just gestational. This illness is becoming stigmatised.