# Long shot...but any Chelmsford ladies?



## beckyp (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm 9 weeks pregnant and was hoping that any other ladies from the Chelmsford or surrounding areas would be able to share their stories of their time with the diabetes unit during pregnancy and how you found your care at St Johns/Broomfield - I know that it's all being transferred to Broomfield in September.

So far, I'm yet to see/hear from anyone and I've noticed that lots, if not all, of the other ladies on the forum have already had scans!

Just starting to get a bit paranoid....after a strongly worded email yesterday I've managed to get an appointment for September and I'll be calling them this afternoon to discuss it further but I'm starting to worry - perhaps more than I need to be???

Thanks in advance,

B


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## Emmal31 (Aug 25, 2010)

Hello Becky I live in chelmsford and had my baby (Jessica) at St Johns in January there's tons of threads on here from me about bad appointments and my experiences throughtout pregnancy  are you under the diabetes centre at broomfield for your care?

I told them straight away when I found out I was pregnant and they saw me within that week. I had a scan at 7 weeks also because I thought I was 12 weeks so I wouldn't have had a scan before that anyway. Have you started your higher dose of folic acid yet? 

For the first five months I was only seen every 2-3 weeks because my hba1c was good they didn't feel the need to see me any more which was good really because after that time it's weekly appointments! 

Congratulations, I'll be very interested how your care is compared with mine as your in the same area as me xx


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## beckyp (Aug 26, 2010)

Thanks Emma.

I was diagnosed about 20 years ago and have been with Broomfield ever since...for years the appointments would last for about 5 minutes with the standard questions of 'how are you', 'how do you feel' and 'any problems' and then I'd be sent on my way for another year (waste of parking money more often than not!).  About 3 years ago I was told to come back within 3 months and I asked why and was told by the doctor that they had to see people more often so I'm assuming that they were given a talking to!  I've been going every 6 months since then.

At the pre-conception clinic in January they said that a lot of doctors wait until you're 8 weeks before referring you and that I had to push them to do it sooner because I'm classed as High Risk.  I called them at 6 weeks and they said that they couldn't see me until the doctor referred me (my normal DSN was on holiday at the time which didn't help).  My doctor referred me and I still hadn't heard anything - I'm now 9 weeks - so I called them this week and got a big apology.  I've now got an appointment for next Friday but I'm really worried about going on holiday in September without having a scan first (the 12 week scan is booked in at 13 weeks when we get back).  So worried that I think I'll pay for a private scan! She turned it around on the phone by saying that because I'm so well controlled from my food diaries she's seen in the past it didn't need to be rushed but it doesn't stop me feeling as though there could be more to go wrong if they are unable to reply to emails/calls within 3 weeks!

I'll check out your last posts for a heads-up!!!   

Did you need to be induced or have a c-section? How was the care after the birth?  I've been taking the higher dosage of folic acid since January.


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## Emmal31 (Aug 27, 2010)

Hi Becky
As a diabetic you always have to be induced so I was induced at 38 weeks although I was only told the Friday before I was induced the Monday morning! That was because it was up to the obstetrician’s that I saw. I had two lots of pesarys before anything started happening  my contractions started at 11pm that Monday night by Tuesday morning I was in so much pain I was only on gas and air because I was only 2cm dilated they wouldn’t give me anything else. Jessica’s heartbeat was monitored on and off and at 11am they started to say that she was in distress that her heartbeat was erratic so they would monitor me closely and if her heartbeat didn’t improve that they would do an emergency c section. Her heartbeat didn’t improve so the decision was made to give me a c section. Jessica was lifted out of me checked over and then taken away without me even looking at her, she had low blood sugar levels when she was born. She was kept in the neo natal unit for 4 days until they stabilised and then on the Friday I was allowed to go home.
I was visited by Margaret at St Johns the day after I had Jessica she discussed insulin needs etc due to me wanting to breastfeed. I had a nightmare with trying to get to breastfeed Jessica though I said right from the start that I wanted to I was told that they would get me something so I could express nothing would happen and then the staff would change shifts. Eventually when I was given a pump to express it was 3 days in and Jessica had been formula feed down in the neo natal unit because it was ‘convenient and they didn’t want to be going back and forth with breastmilk’. Sorry still makes me angry now, my stay at St Johns was awful all my wishes were ignored. The neo natal unit looked after Jessica brilliantly though and the diabetes team at Broomfield were good all in all. I really hope I don’t put you off and I hope that things are different for you when you have your little one at Broomfield xxx


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## beckyp (Sep 2, 2010)

Emmal31 said:


> Hi Becky
> As a diabetic you always have to be induced so I was induced at 38 weeks although I was only told the Friday before I was induced the Monday morning! That was because it was up to the obstetrician?s that I saw. I had two lots of pesarys before anything started happening  my contractions started at 11pm that Monday night by Tuesday morning I was in so much pain I was only on gas and air because I was only 2cm dilated they wouldn?t give me anything else. Jessica?s heartbeat was monitored on and off and at 11am they started to say that she was in distress that her heartbeat was erratic so they would monitor me closely and if her heartbeat didn?t improve that they would do an emergency c section. Her heartbeat didn?t improve so the decision was made to give me a c section. Jessica was lifted out of me checked over and then taken away without me even looking at her, she had low blood sugar levels when she was born. She was kept in the neo natal unit for 4 days until they stabilised and then on the Friday I was allowed to go home.
> I was visited by Margaret at St Johns the day after I had Jessica she discussed insulin needs etc due to me wanting to breastfeed. I had a nightmare with trying to get to breastfeed Jessica though I said right from the start that I wanted to I was told that they would get me something so I could express nothing would happen and then the staff would change shifts. Eventually when I was given a pump to express it was 3 days in and Jessica had been formula feed down in the neo natal unit because it was ?convenient and they didn?t want to be going back and forth with breastmilk?. Sorry still makes me angry now, my stay at St Johns was awful all my wishes were ignored. The neo natal unit looked after Jessica brilliantly though and the diabetes team at Broomfield were good all in all. I really hope I don?t put you off and I hope that things are different for you when you have your little one at Broomfield xxx



Oh God, it sounds like you had a right ole' time of it.  I wasn't aware that ALL diabetic women were induced, they told me that it's just 'most'....although in all honesty, I think it'll come down to a c-section.  In an ideal world I'd like to think that I could have a natural birth and then breastfeed but for 20 odd years I thought I'd be having a c-section so I'm not at all scared at the thought.  I will make it very clear in a so called birth plan that my husband must be the first person to hold him/her and that I must see him/her before being taken anywhere else.  It would be interesting to know how much they ignore birth plans though (I've heard that they hate them there as it means they need to follow people's wishes!).  Breastfeeding is really important to me so it's useful to hear about your breastfeeding problems at the hospital - at least this way, I'll be able to pack the necessary in the overnight bag (along with the DS!), as will you next time I'm sure!

Thanks for taking the time to share your story with me.  I'm seeing them tomorrow morning for my first appointment.  I'm not really sure who I'll be seeing/what will be happening.  I've had an email saying that my sugars are under control so no worries there (even with the highs in the night) so will they be checking the baby?  The scan isn't until I get home from hols at the end of the month...annoying.


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## Emmal31 (Sep 3, 2010)

Are you seeing Dr J now then? That's who I had all the way through Jessica's pregnancy. I'm back with Dr F now though. 

I always knew that there could be a strong possibility that I would have a c section so I wasn't suprised when they said about it and I was very relieved because I was in so much pain I just wanted her out safely. I think if you go into it thinking worse case scenario what could happen and it does it's not so daunting. How did your appointment go this morning anyway? x


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## Chrissie (Sep 4, 2010)

Hi 
I'm not too far away but i have all my care at Addenbrooks & it has all been fantastic (except post natal ward but thats another story, i'll fill you in when i post my birth story).
I didn't have a earlys can even though i asked for one, my first scan was at 12/13 wks, i then had scans at 16wks, 20wks, 24wks, 28wks, 32wks, 34wks, 35wks, 36wks.
Sorry i can't help with specific questions about your hospital but good luck with the rest of your pregnancy xxx


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