{"id":45065,"date":"2016-10-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes\/"},"modified":"2016-10-31T05:21:05","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T09:21:05","slug":"true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065","title":{"rendered":"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I began my own breastfeeding with type 1 diabetes journey, I was pleased to find that my milk production came easily, often referring to myself as a Vermont Creamery. And I was relieved to see that I wasn\u2019t going to need nipple shields or nipple lubricants for cracked or bleeding or sore nipples. Nor would I struggle for weeks while my little Lucy figured out how to latch properly. After having her very sturdy tongue-tie snipped when she was two days old, our feedings were mostly effortless, that is, except for their impact on my blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n

After I\u2019d spent 9 months aiming for near-perfection, in my first few months postpartum my blood sugar swung between 40 and 200 mg\/dL once or twice a day. Perhaps I was too hard on myself and my blood sugars weren\u2019t as wild as I felt they were. They just seemed \u201cawful\u201d in comparison to my tight pregnancy blood sugars. However, since the lows didn\u2019t necessarily correlate with nursing, I often felt like it was just me<\/em> failing at smooth blood sugar management.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I stopped<\/em> breastfeeding 3 months after Lucy was born that I saw just how tremendous an impact breastfeeding (and more specifically: producing milk) had on my blood sugar management\u2014and how much more stable my blood sugar was when I was no longer breastfeeding.<\/p>\n

The reality is that every woman is different, and on top of that, every woman\u2019s diabetes is going to be different, too. It\u2019s only natural to assume, then, that every woman\u2019s experience of breastfeeding is also going to be different. \u00a0But there are some basic facts every woman with diabetes who wants to breastfeed should know. \u00a0I talked to Jennifer\u00a0Smith<\/a>, mother, person with diabetes, CDE & RD, who works with women across the globe via Skype at IntegratedDiabetes<\/a>, to help you better understand the truth about breastfeeding with type 1 diabetes.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Milk production relies heavily on insulin production, so women with type 1 diabetes often have trouble producing enough milk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

FALSE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there’s no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.\u201d Smith explains, \u201cDiabetic or not, there are certainly women whose bodies struggle to produce enough milk for unknown reasons that are completely out of their control, but in a woman with reasonable well-managed blood sugar levels, diabetes shouldn’t be the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. If your blood sugar is higher before you nurse, you\u2019ll have to pump and<\/em> dump<\/em> that milk because too much sugar in your breast-milk will be bad for your baby<\/strong><\/p>\n

FALSE<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Although it isn’t great\u00a0to have consistently<\/em> high blood sugars while nursing, breast-milk contains a great deal of sugar to begin with and very little of the sugar in the mother’s bloodstream actually makes its way to the breast-milk,\u201d explains Smith.\u00a0\u201cThe main sugar in a mother\u2019s milk is lactose, which is made up of two basic\u00a0sugars: glucose and galactose. Glucose is the sugar that is in excess in\u00a0the bloodstream of people with diabetes. Although some of the excess\u00a0glucose in the bloodstream of a mother with consistently<\/em>\u00a0high blood sugars will\u00a0get into the milk, most of it gets used in producing lactose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the\u00a0occasional high blood sugar in a new mother with otherwise well-managed blood sugars levels, the actual amount of glucose in the breast-milk is minimal and insignificant. To tell a mother with type 1 diabetes to ‘pump and dump’ is incredibly shortsighted and even greater pressure on the mother. The benefits of breast-milk for your baby certainly outweigh the rather insignificant amount of extra glucose in the breast-milk.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Breastfeeding will definitely make blood sugar management a nightmare. I\u2019ll always be low.<\/strong><\/p>\n

FALSE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“During the first three months of breastfeeding, your basal rates will need to be gradually reduced and adjusted as your milk production reaches its peak and eventually regulates,\u201d explains Smith. \u201cNursing sessions could be every 2 to 3 hours during the first month, and your baby might nurse for 10 minutes at one feeding and 20 minutes at the next. This can make it tricky to predict just how much glucose you’ll need consume to prevent a lowballed sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you’ll also find that you won’t<\/em>\u00a0need to eat extra glucose for every feeding session. There will likely be times of day you won’t need extra glucose and times of day when you do, for instance, morning feedings may require extra glucose, daytime feedings may not, and overnight feedings may require extra glucose again. You may find that you can simply reduce your meal bolus by anywhere from .5 to 2 units for whatever meal you eat following a breastfeeding session. In the end, breastfeeding is not<\/em>\u00a0simple nor necessarily predictable, and all of our bodies are different, so our response to breastfeeding will differ slightly, too.”<\/p>\n

Like all things in life with diabetes, your diabetes may vary. Making slight adjustments to your insulin doses or eating 10 to 20 grams of carbohydrates after each feeding may keep your blood sugar steady. Or for you, the stress of being a new mother combined with having a very high-maintenance chronic illness may be enough to say, \u201cOkay, I gave my child a few weeks of breast milk\u2014which is a wonderful gift and will benefit their health\u2014and now, for the sake of my own needs, it\u2019s time to begin using formula.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The decision is yours, and yours alone, and should always be made in consultation with your\u00a0health care provider.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there’s no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":45066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1430,1566],"tags":[395],"yoast_head":"\nTrue or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there's no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ginger Vieira\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065\",\"name\":\"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-18T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-31T09:21:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cac8b210943900c3d548b9dc0c316698\"},\"description\":\"Unless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there's no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cac8b210943900c3d548b9dc0c316698\",\"name\":\"Ginger Vieira\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b5f6995be3282da4742ad3c0535d1d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b5f6995be3282da4742ad3c0535d1d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ginger Vieira\"},\"description\":\"Author of \u201cYour Diabetes Science Experiment\u201d and \u201cEmotional Eating with Diabetes,\u201d Ginger Vieira has lived with Type 1 diabetes and Celiac disease since 1999. Today, she is a certified cognitive coach and diabetes coach at Living in Progress, creates diabetes video blogs for her YouTube Channel, and creates regular freelance content for Diabetes Daily and other publications. In 2009 and 2010, Ginger set 15 records in drug-tested powerlifting with a 308 lb deadlift, 190 lb. bench press, and a 265 lb. squat. She lives in Vermont with two dogs and her fella.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=66\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes","description":"Unless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there's no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ginger Vieira","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065","name":"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-18T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-31T09:21:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cac8b210943900c3d548b9dc0c316698"},"description":"Unless your blood sugars are well over 200 mg\/dL for days on end, there's no reason a woman with type 1 diabetes will have any more difficulty producing breast milk than a non-diabetic woman.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/true-or-false-demystifying-breastfeeding-for-women-with-type-1-diabetes-2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45065#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"True or False? Demystifying Breastfeeding for Women with Type 1 Diabetes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cac8b210943900c3d548b9dc0c316698","name":"Ginger Vieira","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b5f6995be3282da4742ad3c0535d1d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b5f6995be3282da4742ad3c0535d1d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ginger Vieira"},"description":"Author of \u201cYour Diabetes Science Experiment\u201d and \u201cEmotional Eating with Diabetes,\u201d Ginger Vieira has lived with Type 1 diabetes and Celiac disease since 1999. Today, she is a certified cognitive coach and diabetes coach at Living in Progress, creates diabetes video blogs for her YouTube Channel, and creates regular freelance content for Diabetes Daily and other publications. In 2009 and 2010, Ginger set 15 records in drug-tested powerlifting with a 308 lb deadlift, 190 lb. bench press, and a 265 lb. squat. She lives in Vermont with two dogs and her fella.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=66"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}