What Doctors Don't Tell YouThe following stories are excerpted from Diabetes and Pregnancy, by Anna Knopfler (Optima):
“I had a good pregnancy with my first child, but was amazed that despite having excellent control and all my scans showing a normal size baby, they still took me into hospital at 37 1/2 weeks they kept me in quite unnecessarily, as they left me to look after my own control. The consultant then examined me and despite my having a normal size child, they still decided to induce me nine days early, rather than letting me go full term. Consequently my baby was not ready to come and after 18 hours of labour, drips, monitors, etc, he got into distress and they had to do an emergency caesarean.””As I lay on the examination table at the antenatal clinic the day I was to be induced, I overheard the doctor mention something about a caesarean section. This is what angers me they didn’t ask me what I thought about it, or even tell me what they intended to do. I piped up and said that unless it was absolutely necessary, I wanted the birth to be as normal as possible, which is why I was so proud once I’d given birth vaginally.”
The Diabetic Pregnancy Network can be contacted on 071 323 1531.
Maryon Stewart
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD