This goes under the "media watch" category. I just got my latest issue of
Reader's Digest yesterday. I took it with me to read while waiting for my
son to get his hair cut. The first story I usually read is, "Drama in Real
Life" (no surprise. After all I AM a nurse ;-) ) so that's what I turned to
first. I was soon sucked into the story called "A Splash in the Darkness".
It was the story of a woman, diabetic from childhood, who went out one night
for ice cream (!) with her 5 week old daughter strapped into her carseat.
She had taken insulin after supper and her sugar was fine (although she
always had trouble controlling it) so she figured she could treat herself to
ice cream. She left her husband home with their older child. Apparently,
according to the story, she ended up driving around for 2 hours in a stupor
because, "...her insulin injection before supper had kicked in, lowering her
sugar, as was its job. But then hormones that were needed to produce breast
milk for (her baby's) next feeding pulled more sugar from her
bloodstream-more than she could stand. Under the spell of hypoglycemia,
Laura's central nervous system would have been impaired." After driving
around, she drove off the road into a stream, car upside down, unconscious.
Fortunately for her, a mother was camping out with her kids in their yard
nearby and heard the splash and the car horn. She told her husband to call
911 and ran to the creek. She recognized the woman from having taken care
of her in the hospital a few years prior for her brittle diabetes and
quickly got orange juice down her. The baby was also rescued unharmed. But
here's the reason I share this: the last paragraph of the story says,
"Doctors confirmed that normal post-pregnancy hormone changes, exaggerated
by breast-milk production, had led to a sudden dip in Laura's blood sugar
(we knew that, didn't we) causing her to black out.... The next day Laura's
doctor urged her to begin weaning Chloe immediately. She did, right after
delivering a guardian angel doll to Tracie's doorstep."
Another sad case of 'sacrificing breastfeeding on the altar of ignorance'.
This could have been prevented probably with the proper supervision, since
we know breastfeeding women require less insulin for their diabetes, and
should at least, have been monitored because of this. Now this mom and baby
have lost that precious aspect of their relationship and the baby will be
MORE likely to develop diabetes, like her mother. I'm going to write a
letter to RD and hope others will too. This magazine is widely read and
that story will no doubt make an impression on some people with it's false
message. Anyone care to join me?
Sorry this is so long,
Marsha, who was moved to tears looking at the website Jan posted a link to.
I think it's true, as someone posted, I think we're just beginning to "take
hold" of what has happened here, and I'm glad we're not alone in this
moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations
as all other earthly causes combined.
John S. C. Abbot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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