still born due to diabetes

[minda19]

Hi everyone, I have a question for everyone person. Have you or do you know anyone that has lost a baby due to their diabetes? I am 20 and July 29, 2005 I lost my angel Savannah, I was 33wks I was to be enduced one wk after. I am dealing well with this, I found a chat group support site. However I feel there are many answered questions. There was no reason once so ever that my baby should have passed. I personally think that I was over-due, my dr. told me that she only weighed 3ish lbs, in reality however she was 7lbs 4onz when I gave birth, and her skin was started to deal as it does on any baby when they are over due! I dunno, Please feel free to tell me what you guys think on this topic,

Mindy

P.S. I am looking for a used insulin pump if anyone has one for sale please email me with the info for it!!mking_12***@****

Thanks

[JDRF Team SGG]

I am a diabetic mother of two. I learned when pregnant that diabetic moms face the most danger to their babies in the early first weeks of development and also at the end of their pregnancies. High glucose levels damage small blood vessels that feed our organs, and this is the reason that pregnant diabetic women are encouraged to keep control the very tightest possible while pregnant. Many diabetic women manage to keep a1c levels under 6 while pregnant in order to prevent this kind of damage to the blood vessels feeding the placenta, and then to the baby. So miscarriages are higher among diabetic women than the average population. Large babies are also common if blood sugar levels are high. So your daughter's large size could mean that glucose levels were high or it could mean what you are suspecting, that your baby was more mature than your doctors thought. I am very, very sorry for your loss.

If at some point you decide to try again to have a baby, I would encourage you to ask to be referred to a diabetic specialist if you weren't already in the care of such a doctor during this pregnancy. Most doctors recommend that the woman get her a1c levels down to something near 6 and keep it there for a few months BEFORE getting pregnant in order for her body to be as healthy as possible. Then, extremely tight control is recommended during the entire pregnancy in order to protect both you and the baby, and also to ensure that your baby is a normal size, which makes it easier to deliver the baby.

I offer my deepest condolences to you.

[who_dis]

I am sorry for your loss.

I wish I could help, but there are some inconsistencies that make it hard to understand fully what might have happened.  Diabetics as a group do have a higher risk of stillbirth than the general population.

However, a baby at 33 weeks, will not weigh over 7 pounds unless there was some vastly underlying abnormal condition involved.  The skin peeling you noted is found in most stillborn infants regardess of gestation, and has nothing to do with being overdue.  

I wish I could help answer your questions more fully.

[JDRF-Team-JW]

Hi Minda,

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I admire your strength and courage through this very difficult ordeal.

As you may know we are not doctors on this forum. Personally, I have yet to have a baby so I'm not much of an expert on pregnancies in diabetics (I'm Type I). I don't know exactly what happened in your case but there seems to have been some miscommunication with your doctor. I know that diabetic mothers need to watch their diabetes extremely closely when pregnant and some complications do occur at times due to diabetes. However, I don't know the details in your particular case. Hopefully someone else on this forum would be able to shed some light on your question as well as possibly help you with your insulin pump request. Good luck and take care!