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High-Risk Pregnancy
Insulin Pump During Labor
I'm going to ask my Dr. about this on Fri, but I want to know what others have done...
Did you wear your pump during labor and delivery? Did you have a vag delivery or c-sec.?
If you didn't wear your pump how did they regulate your blood sugar?
How often did they check your sugar or did you check your own sugar?
How do you think your labor and delivery was different from someone that is not on a pump or insulin?
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Re: Insulin Pump During Labor
My dr. said I can keep it on during labor and delivery no matter if it's vaginal or a c-section. Since I know I'm having a c-section due to a breech baby, I was told to put the infusion site on my arm so it's completely out of the way. I am also going to stay in charge of checking my own blood sugars. I just have to sign a waiver saying that I am capable of staying in control and do not need them to do it. I trained my husband so he can help with the pump and my meter if need be.
This is just the policy at my hospital. I am very glad I do not have to turn over control to the dr/nurses.
I left mine on during my c-section, as advised by my perinatologist. The OB who was on that day was resistant to it and wanted to give me IV insulin instead. My perinatologist knew this might happen as it was common at that hospital for them to go the IV route, so she advised me before I went it to call her directly if there were any issues with it the day of delivery (we weren't planning the c-section and she said I should be able to wear it for a c-section or a vaginal delivery). So my dh actually did have to call her -and she called the OB -and I got to keep it on! I'm in a different city now with a different OB at a new hospital so I'm really hoping it isn't such a production this time around!
The reason she said it was so important was because by keeping your bg's in the target range during labor and delivery there is a much better chance that the baby's bg's will be stable at birth and therefore not need to go to the nicu. She said that when they go the IV route, the nurses tend to keep you running a little high (150-180 or so) just because they don't want to risk you going low, but as a result the baby's pancreas is more likely to be producing too much insulin at birth to compensate for your higher #'s -which can lead to low #'s for baby after birth, and thus the possible need for nicu monitoring. This is what she told me anyway, and it did make sense to me, so I was pretty adamant about keeping it, and I'm glad I did -I was able to test and correct as much as I wanted (every 20-30 minutes). DD was born healthy with a good bg and was able to avoid the nicu, which was a huge relief for me!
On a side note -my own bg experience was that I went low twice waiting for the c-section (and was given juice). I went into the c-section with a bg around 80, and came out near 200 due to the stress I think! It still didn't seem to have an effect on DD since her # was perfect (maybe I went high after they actually took her out?), and then I was able set all of my pump settings back at my pre-pregnancy levels within a couple of hours after the birth. I had quite a few lows for a few days after wards while my hormones regulated themselves.
Woah -sorry for writing SO much! Best of luck!
I had a c-section and kept my pump on. I put the infusion site high and way to the side on my belly to make sure it was out of the way. I put my basal rate back to my pre-preg rate and was also hooked up to a "sugar drip" in case my blood sugar got low. I was fine through the whole surgery and got low when I was in recovery.