Friday

no GD test for me!

I have decided to decline the TESTING FOR GEStATIONAL DIABETES unless I have some obvious risk factor or symptoms that develop.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also asked my midwife if I could skip the test. I don't drive and with three kids it's difficult to manage the timing of the test for me. It's my 4th preg. and I asked, how likely is it that I'll develop gest. diabetes this time? She said highly unlikely-this is the 4th preg. and you have small babies-in Europe they recommend tests based on personal history, but in the US we test everyone for everything regardless! She said there were ways to cheat, like to just draw blood at some point and we agreed to do just that.

Anonymous said...

thats not a good idea. I can't believe some dumbshit midwife would suggest "cheating"...I wish I knew where you lived and I'd report her and get her ass in trouble. Another strike against homebirth.
I had my second child at 39. NO gestational diabetes with the first one seven years prior. I was borderline. No symptoms. Had I waited for symptoms my baby would have been affected. Badly from what i researched. So instead I ate right and excercised more than I have ever excercised in my life. I can't believe that someone would be so unbelievably stupid to forego a simple bloodtest. I mean what the hell is the big deal? Are you afraid there is no more taco bell in your near future? You would barter your babies health for a bean burrito???

Anonymous said...

The test is such a no big deal I don;t understand why anyone would not take it...But then again I am the type of person who figures when I can I will take all the precautions I can, especially if its covered by insurance. Afteral if we don;t have our health, we don;t have anything.
I have had several friends that were borderline or diagnosed and had to adjust there diets. Overall they have said i was was wake up call to stop eating junk during pregnancy. It slowed there weith gain down and they said they felt much better once they revamped there diets.

Anonymous said...

Come on now.You are surely just posting this to get everyone nervous.I hope that you aren't serious.But if you are ,why would you opt out?Sounds a little foolish to me.

ErinOrtlund said...

For what it's worth, when I had my first baby in Scotland, they did not test routinely for GD. I was happy to be tested here in Canada with my second. But for what it's worth, it's true not all countries do as many tests in pregnancy as the US.

Anonymous said...

My second son (of four) was born in Scotland, and the GP I saw for about half of my prenatal care was shocked at the US practice of routine GD testing. It came up once, because there was some sugar in my urine -- that warranted a blood test.

Katie's not saying she's giving up on prenatal care here -- I'm surprised by a couple of these comments. She's declining a screening test, one deemed unnecessary in some countries with better perinatal mortality than the US.

Routine GD screening costs time and money, and I'm not sure it really makes sense to require all pregnant women to down a big slug of Glucola if we're concerned that big slugs of glucose might be bad for them or their babies. I can't get to the Cochrane review on GD screening, but I'd be surprised if it came down decisively in favor of routine screening. I'll post again if I find out.

Anonymous said...

Good for you. I declined it as well. Five babies, no GD even though when I speak to an OB and tell them they were all around 10 pounds, they freak out. I just have big babies.

Anonymous said...

this is a new one, I have never heard of any ill effects other than its not the most pleasant experience in the world. It certainly seems like cheap insurance. Her reluctance seems like just one more nail in her one upmanship game of second guessing medical professionals. I hope it does not have tragic results. I just could not believe that someone could refuse such a noninvasive safe test and for what reason? As for the midwife: yet more reasons that I think homebirth should be a crime punishable by law. Its practicing medicine without a license.

Anonymous said...

wow i am blown away at the rude anonymous one!
kate, do what is right for YOU.
other people can kiss your arse
erika

Anonymous said...

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1112782

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the previous - I posted too early.

There's definitely disagreement among medical professionals about the value of routine GD screening. If anyone's interested, here are a couple of citations:

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/152/11/1015.pdf
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1112782

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure why anonymous was talking about this being related to homebirth. The midwife isn't doing a homebirth-routine testing has nothing to do with homebirth. She works in hospitals with ob backup for anyone who needs it. Also, the test they've run on me doesn't involve drinking a special liquid. You have to eat a certain meal(I think it was 2 eggs, toast, & orange juice)and get blood drawn exactly an hour later. With three kids under 5 that I have to drag with me, and I have to walk, I don't drive-it is very difficult to manage, timewise.

Anonymous said...

I didn't show any symptoms during my prior 3 pregnancies, but failed the 1 hour test on my 4th. Had to do the 3 hour test at the lab, and other than just sitting around being bored for 3 hours it was worth it to know that I had GB. I had to have insulin shots. And my baby's blood sugar was really low after birth and had to go into the NICU overnight to be monitored. Diabetes is nothing to mess around with. I can't believe anyone would choose not to do such a simple test.

Anonymous said...

A woman in my prenatal yoga class tested positive for her first one and she is a super health nut She doesn't eat any "white" sugar or flour ever. She passed the 3 hour one, though. I heard this story the day before I went to take mine and was nervous (being in the doctor's office makes me crazy) but I passed. I am also not much of a sweets person either. I guess I am rambling on because I'm not so sure it is always "diet" related but I haven't done the research.

Anonymous said...

Some OB's will tell you that you are "positive" if you are barely above the high normal level, then worry you and push you to medicate yourself. The judgemental attitude that is being thrown around here is unbelievable. Being educated about your own healthcare and being able to make choices and feel confident in those choices is every woman's right. Too many women do not research childbirth and rely on everything that comes out of their OB's mouth. Read Ina May Gaskin, anonymous. And, if you've never been under a midwife's care, you have no idea what thorough, compassionate and capable midwives are. OB's spend what, about 10 minutes with you? Then you have to see all the OB's in the practice during your last few weeks of pregnancy? Ridiculous. Set aside an hour for a midwife appointment.

Anonymous said...

oh please give me a break. Judgemental? hardly. The blogger herself judges other peoples parenting all over the place; why be appalled when her own judgement is questioned? As for the medication...please...I was borderline and no one said a peep about medication UNLESS I didn't follow the diet and excercise and my blood sugar continued to go up.
As for the midwife...I assumed it was homebirth but I am even more appalled that a medical employee would forge information on a chart so that someone could save on some convenience. You do realize that she could have been fired for that and perhaps even lost her licensure? If you can't drive maybe you shouldn't be having all these kids? I can't imagine having kids, especially four of them, and not driving. My husband didn't drive for awhile and it was damn inconvenient. However he also was not the one responsible for the welfare of a child that he was alone with all day. He managed to get where he was going on public transportation. But when we moved to another state with no transportation he learned how to drive very fast with no prodding from anyone else. He doesn't go very far or drive on long road trips but if someone needed immediate medical care but wasn't really ambulance material he could get them there. Or get to the pharmacy. Or get the dog to the vet. Or any other pressing matter that might come up.
as far as Katie "doing what feels right for her"...well thats just dandy unless what she's doing is downright dangerous. If "doing whats right for you" constitutes medical neglect then it ceases to become just YOUR business. Besides, Katie doesn't encourage people to "do what's just right for them" when it comes to that all magic curative substance known as breast milk now does she?

Anonymous said...

"Downright dangerous" would be smoking crack, not forgoing a screening test of debatable benefit.

There are plenty of countries with very good medical systems where routine GD screening is not done. Are you under the impression that all those doctors are guilty of medical neglect?

Leslie said...

"Good for you. I declined it as well. Five babies, no GD even though when I speak to an OB and tell them they were all around 10 pounds, they freak out. I just have big babies."

I get this as well. I almost always fail the one hour test and have to do the three hour one, which is a major pain (fasting overnight, three or four blood draws, and the time involved). And I always pass it, as I know I will.

I had one doctor tell me (because #2 was 11.5 lbs.) that he was going to put me on a diabetic diet anyway because no matter what the test said I had to be diabetic to have a baby that big. I had another doctor tell me (after #4 was 13+ lbs.) that he wished I would test diabetic because that would at least explain the gigantic baby phenomenon.

I would love to refuse the test myself, but because getting my way in the actual birth is more important to me, I tend to cooperate up to then in the hope of getting some concessions later!

Anonymous said...

Google "Henci Goer gestational diabetes" and you will find a very eye-opening article.

GD isn't a real disease, and the "therapy" doesn't change outcomes at all. Unless you count a higher number of c-sections because the doctors are worried about a big baby.

A better idea is to do a diet diary and discuss history of diabetes in the family.

Anonymous said...

I guess you all must live in a different medical world than I do. I never was being invasively treated, threatened with c sections etc etc, because I was borderline GD. I was only told to eat right. Which as far as I can tell never did anyone any harm and is awfully cheap insurance. I just don't get the big deal about this....and you can always find a study here and there refuting something or other. As for that Henri Goer guy...as soon as I saw "natural gentle birthing" all my little red flags went off: these are the people that would rather minimize risk than have anything endanger their zen like birth experience, even if it culminates in a dead baby (which they will of course try and rearrange the data of said death so that of course it had nothing to do with their wack-o ideas)

Anonymous said...

OK. If you're pregnant - eat right. There you go! No need for a GD test at all. Think of all the money and time saved.

Anonymous said...

you people have GOT to be kidding..this is a new low in stupidity....I can't believe for all the advanced education here that common sense is so woefully lacking.