Our clinics are held at St James’s Hospital every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. We will support you throughout your pregnancy and work closely with our Diabetes Midwives, Maternity Support Workers, Obstetric Consultants, Diabetes Consultants, Dietitians and Diabetes Nurses.
If you have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes you will have appointments at our combined obstetric/diabetic clinic throughout your pregnancy. If you have gestational diabetes, our team will support your care in our antenatal clinic at St James’s Hospital.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease where the body is unable to produce or respond to the hormone Insulin, which can result in high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
There are 3 main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 – a lifelong condition where the body produces little or no insulin
- Type 2 – when the body doesn’t use or produce insulin properly
- Gestational diabetes – high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes is high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth. It can happen at any stage of pregnancy, but is more common in the second or third trimester. It happens when your body cannot produce enough insulin – a hormone that helps control blood sugar levels.
You can read more about this and whether you may be at risk on the NHS website: Gestational diabetes – NHS.
Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes
At your first appointment with your midwife, you will be asked some questions to see whether you may be at risk of having Gestational Diabetes.
If we think you may be at risk of having Gestational Diabetes, we will recommend that you have a Glucose Tolerance Test.
If the results show you have gestational diabetes, a member of the diabetes team will phone you within a week to explain your diagnosis. Please take a look at our pregnancy and gestational diabetes leaflet for information about checking your blood glucose levels and what happens next.
Useful leaflets and links – Gestational Diabetes
- Gestational diabetes – NHS
- Glucose Tolerance Test
- Food diary for diabetes in pregnancy
- Healthy eating for gestational diabetes leaflet
- Pregnancy and gestational diabetes leaflet
- Screening for Type 2 Diabetes after Gestational Diabetes leaflet
Pre-Existing Diabetes (Type 1 and 2)
As soon as you find out you are pregnant you should arrange an appointment at the Diabetes/Antenatal Clinic.
The sooner you attend the diabetes clinic the sooner we can support your care in early pregnancy and optimise your blood glucose levels.
Your blood glucose levels may change more often with your new pregnancy hormones. This can make your blood glucose levels more difficult to control.
If you take insulin you might find your hypo awareness symptoms are reduced or disappear in the first few months of your pregnancy. This means that it is even more important for you to check your Blood Glucose levels more often and always carry food/drinks to correct any hypos. To stay safe it is important that you are aware of this when exercising or bathing alone.
Useful leaflets and links – Diabetes (Type 1 and 2)
- Information if you are thinking about having a baby and you have diabetes
- Pre-Pregnancy Advice Diabetes leaflet
- Pregnancy and type 1 diabetes leaflet
- Pregnancy and type 2 diabetes leaflet
