Hi Angela,

I just recently helped a diabetic mother express colostrum prenatally. I'm not handy to Pub Med right now but I believe that one of the articles we referred to for information was actually published in one of the dietbetes journals. (someone correct me if I'm wrong). 

"She felt that this was too risky and could stimulate labor.  She said that 38 weeks might be acceptable"

If that were the case our hospital could save a lot of $ on Pitocin for induction :)  We told our patient  if she experienced contractions during expressing to stop. Actually we induce a lot of diabetic moms for "big babies" about that early anyway. She never experienced any contractions.

"When diabetics start labor their sugar drops and when they breastfeed their sugars are a little more difficult to control. "

and so??

"Since colostrum is higher in protein and lower in sugar, she's not sure that it is the best supplement."

Any dietician out there correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't protein what you want to help stabilize blood sugars? 

Our patient had no problems expressing from the 36th week which was the recommendation in the article . She had a huge volume of colostrum stored up in Medela bottles (like 30 ounces or something!!) when she checked in to the hospital! The baby did well, mom did well and everyone was happy. 

Holly Mcspadden, IBCLC

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome