GD and hospital diet during induction

[Caezzybe]

I'm expecting to be given an induction date of anywhere up to but not past my due date and have diet controlled gestational diabetes. Luckily, my last baby arrived early and spared me the induction but I can't guarantee the same will happen this time.

After my first delivery, I carried on monitoring my blood glucose levels and they were really high as the hospital food isn't really suitable for diet controlled gestational diabetes. It was all really carb heavy stuff and I'm worried about diet if I do get induced this time. Even their so-called diabetic choices on the menu are stuff I can't eat (fruit, low-sugar marmalade etc.) and there is nowhere near enough protein or vegetables on offer.

What do I do? Force myself to eat the hospital food and put my baby's post delivery blood sugar at risk (and put myself at risk of being on an insulin driver during labour)? Do I try to sneak off to the hospital restaurant in the hope they have something I can eat there? Do I live off low fat yogurt and nuts for 2 days? Do I get my husband to bring my meals in for me and hope that he gets the GI right?

Somebody else must have been in this situation who found a way round it???

 

[vintage67]

You won't be allowed to eat during your induction. I was only given sugar free popsicles during mine.

 

[vintage67]

You are absolutely right about hospital food. After my son was born, despite having "diabetic" written all over my charts, the food they brought to me was not good at all for my needs!

Many healthcare professionals are completely ignorant about diabetes. It's shocking. A friend of mine was in the hospital for foot surgery and his blood sugars kept going to over 400. The nursing staff was bringing him full sugar popsicles! And they knew he was a diabetic! He would ask to make sure and they said they were the right ones, but finally a nurse noticed the color of the wrappers!

Another man I know visited his elderly diabetic father in a nursing home during lunch and a was appalled at what he was being served to eat, never mind a big glass of apple juice to wash it down!

 

[FeistyMom]

Try making it part of your birth plan as well - it seems like hospitals are great at low sodium, but not so much with diabetic friendly. Some are better than others though. You could also ask a bunch of questions during a scheduled tour to look at the menu and get specific dietary values from the offerings so you know what your options are ahead of time, and can see if you can make 'special' requests. I hadn't even thought of this before so I'm glad you brought it up - I'm in a similar boat, so I think I'll call the hospital and get their menu lists.

 

[Roo21]

Hi,
I was in hospital earlier in my pregnancy when my GD was diet controlled and the nhs hospital was fantastic. The midwives organised for a hospital dietician to look over the menus with me for the following few days and they were able to substitute some foods when the set menus were too starchy.

I'm due to be induced now in 3 weeks time but won't be allowed to eat anything during induction as will be on an insulin drip, but will certainly be asking for a low GI menu afterwards. I realise that I've probably been lucky with my hospital, but I didn't realise I could ask for different food to the menu until the midwives found ketones in my urine and realised I'd been starving myself to keep my blood sugar under control! I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

Good luck.

Xx.

 

[Scarletvixen]

I wasnt allowed to eat at all during my induction x

 

[FeistyMom]

If you are on an insulin drip during induction but not eating, won't you get a hypo?

I had thought I was on top of GD, but now I feel like I know nothing about the labor & delivery ramifications... Which isn't good because I already have a little bit of action happening, and I'm feeling more and more certain that I'm not even going to make it to induction!

 

[Roo21]

I think that they also give you a drip to maintain your blood sugars, but I'm not entirely sure how It all works. I've a hospital appointment on Monday when they will apparently explain everything! I think if you go into labour spontaneously then there is no need for all the drips...

 

[Caezzybe]

If you're on diet control, you shouldn't have to have a drip at all. The sliding scale is prescribed at your last obstetrician appointment only if you will need insulin.

Having done a tour of the delivery suite last time, anyone already on insulin has an insulin driver in one arm and a glucose drip in the other to balance out the blood sugars but if control can be done by diet alone, this shouldn't be necessary. I'm unsure about the ramifications of control by Metformin tablets, my hospital doesn't offer them.

I can see that you probably wouldn't be allowed to eat if you had an augmentation drip on the go, but not if they were trying the pessary to get things going. With a pessary, you should still be able to eat which is where the grey area of hospital food and diet control comes in.

 

[Caezzybe]

I coincidentally found out that someone I already know was induced after being diagnosed with (diet controlled) gestational diabetes last year at the hospital I'm having my care under. She said she took in her own snacks and picked at the hospital food. She was allowed to eat and drink what she wanted to as far into labour as she wanted. I have my antenatal class tomorrow at the hospital, so I will ask the midwife then to make sure this policy is still acceptable. Better to be prepared!

 

[Cuffy]

We were advised by diabetes team to get our care team to plan all of this in advance. Te only other thing I would recommend is maybe taking your own foods enough for 24 hours that should be ample for a straight forward delivery, the gd shouldn't be an issue after that although you will need to keep monitoring for a bit.

 

[vyktoriah]

I took my own food in when I was induced. And I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted the entire time. They just checked my sugars every couple hours to be sure I was okay. Luckily for me, the pessary worked perfectly and from the time they put it in until Dexter was born was only 17 hours. Afterward, I just ate my own food rather than the horrible hospital stuff. They kept checking Dex's sugar after he was born, and the first night he was hypoglycemic and they took him and gave him formula without my permission. But he was fine from then on, and so was I.

Hope it isn't too much of an issue for you and that your sugars stay stable throughout. I was on the insulin pump when they put me in hospital for a week last new years, and it was horrid!

 

[Caezzybe]

I took my own food in when I was induced. And I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted the entire time. They just checked my sugars every couple hours to be sure I was okay. Luckily for me, the pessary worked perfectly and from the time they put it in until Dexter was born was only 17 hours. Afterward, I just ate my own food rather than the horrible hospital stuff. They kept checking Dex's sugar after he was born, and the first night he was hypoglycemic and they took him and gave him formula without my permission. But he was fine from then on, and so was I.

Hope it isn't too much of an issue for you and that your sugars stay stable throughout. I was on the insulin pump when they put me in hospital for a week last new years, and it was horrid!

I'm hoping that I have a spontaneous delivery like last time so I won't have to be induced, but if I do have to be induced I'll be packing a bag of snacks and maybe getting cooked breakfast in the hospital restaurant (despite their rules about patients not being allowed in there ar mealtimes) as there is no way I can even think about cereal or toast in the morning with GD!

 

[HellBunny]

Hi hun, last time the hospital food was terrible, it was either high refined carb food or ZERO carb food (ie Ham salad, no good as i was constantly getting Ketones)
This time i am taking myself in some sandwiches to eat, i probably did myself and bubs more harm than good last time by picking at a salad and eating nothing for over 24 hours, i also didn't have access to blood glucose monitoring either! (i'd left it at home and they wouldn't test me)
Make yourself a lunch box of healthy snacks which are easy to eat yet are suitable for your GD hun, that way you can ensure you are eating the right thing xxx

 

[gaixiexie]

He would ask to make sure and they said they were the right ones, but finally a nurse noticed the color of the wrappers!