Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Sugar Matters
December 21, 2010

Pregnancy and Diabetes: it is not just about you any more

Ah, it seems that every week I have a new story to share with you, in the hope that an experience here will help you at home. This past week, I received a consultation to assist with a pregnant patient who had Type 2 diabetes. There are a couple of very important aspects of her story that REALLY need attention from you, especially if you are a young woman with diabetes, or related/married to a woman with diabetes.{{more}} This information is crucial, seriously.

FIRST: this young woman became pregnant when her A1C was 13 percent. You have no idea of the look of horror on our faces when this was discovered. Why the horror, you ask? Because despite all urging that she use appropriate contraception to avoid getting pregnant, she did so anyway, and thus put her developing baby at a high risk of having deformities. YES, you read correctly: having a high A1C early in pregnancy has been associated with a higher rate of birth defects and deformities in children. For all diabetic women, we urge them to get their hemoglobin A1C’s at target, meaning less than 7 percent, BEFORE they get pregnant.

SECOND: this woman is not quite accepting the fact that her glucose targets need to change. She has had blood sugars running in the range of 180-240 much of the time. That’s not so bad, I know some of you are saying to yourselves. IT IS NOT GOOD for anyone, and for a pregnant woman, even worse. The blood sugar targets for pregnant women are fasting glucose less than 95mg/dl, and less than 140mg/dl 2 hours after meals. Her argument to me was that she “felt better” with blood sugars in the 150-200 ranges. She was being treated with insulin and should have been correcting her high blood sugars, but she was just leaving them high and waiting for them to “drift down.” I kept telling her the same thing over and over again: I don’t want you feeling weak and passing out, but this is not about where you feel good, it is about being the healthiest for the pregnancy and keeping your baby healthy. She needs to adjust to lower blood sugars; that is all, simple. Nobody passes out from blood sugar problems with levels between 95-140, which is ideally where hers should be, so that is not an excuse at all.

THIRD: she did not contact her doctor when her recent blood sugars started rising. She had been under good control for a few weeks, and then her sugar levels started to rise. This is quite common in pregnancy because there are many changes happening through those nine months which affect how high and how easily treated diabetes will be, in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. She needed to contact her doc AS SOON AS LEVELS INCREASED, instead of waiting until they were so high she needed to come into the hospital.

Hopefully, you will not make her mistakes. She is 24 years old, an adult to be sure, but not yet quite understanding that as a pregnant woman, the story is not about her alone anymore; it is about the baby too. And high blood sugars do developing babies no good at all.

Until next week, stay safe and healthy, Vincy-mamas-to-be!

Anita Ramsetty, MD endodocs@endocrinehelp.com

Medical Director Endocrine Care Group

www.endocrinehelp.com

Tel: 843-798-4227

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    Villa woman in  hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Front Page
    Villa woman in hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Police are said to be carrying out investigations into the stabbing of Rafia Sardine, a 20-year-old female of Villa. Reports are that Sardine, a FLOW ...
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Front Page
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    In St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), an analysis has found that the most hacked government entity was the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Polic...
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Front Page
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Leaders of Governments and institutions from countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the continent of Africa, gathered at the weekend for ...
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Front Page
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, is proud of the persons in his constituency who continue to aim for higher education. Dr Gonsalves is the parliame...
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Front Page
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A van conductor, who beat his five- months pregnant ex-girlfriend after she refused to get back with him, has been remanded pending sentencing. Onez J...
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    From the Courts, News
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A Lowman’s Hill man who struck another villager in his head with a piece of steel will know his fate tomorrow, September 10, 2025. Kevin Roberts, 25, ...
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    News
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Climate Change Resilience Network (CCRN) in collaboration with the Youlou Radio Movement (YRM) recently embarked on a disaster preparedness initia...
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    News
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, is to obtain three more Heamodialysis machines as part of the revolution in the healthcare secto...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok