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GESTATIONAL DIABETES IS becoming more common in Ireland, but many women who are affected cannot afford testing strips to monitor their condition.
The illness was previously covered under the long-term illness scheme, but since 2013 women without medical cards have had to pay €144 a month for the strips – the maximum amount under the drugs payment scheme.
Cliodhna Grady, a midwife at the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital in Dublin, told TheJournal.ie the number of women presenting with the condition is increasing year on year, particularly among women who are overwight or older.
In 2014, 672 of the 9,000 women who gave birth at the Coombe had gestational diabetes. Some 12% of pregnant women in Ireland get the condition – about 8,000 individuals per year.
Diabetes Ireland notes that the hormones produced during pregnancy work against the action of insulin in the body. The condition can occur if the mother’s body can’t produce enough extra insulin to counteract this blocking effect.
Women are more at risk if they have a family history of type-2 diabetes; are over the age of 35; are obese; have previously given birth to a large baby or a baby born with an abnormality; or have previously had a stillbirth late in pregnancy.
The symptoms include tiredness and excessive urination but, as these are experienced by many pregnant women anyway, gestational diabetes may go unnoticed.
Grady told us women with the illness “may not have any symptoms at all”, noting: “Often times they don’t feel any different.”
She said that on their first visit to the Coombe, pregnant women complete a questionnaire about their health and wellbeing which might flag an increased risk of gestational diabetes.
Women who are more likely to have the condition are offered a glucose test 26-28 weeks into their pregnancy. Grady said pregnancy hormones rise weekly and carrying out the test at an earlier stage could inaccurately give a negative result.
If the test is positive the woman is invited to a gestational diabetes lifestyle class within a week of diagnosis so she can get dietary and exercise-related advice.
Testing strips
Grady said the woman is given a glucometer to monitor blood sugar at home and two days’ worth of testing strips.
Beyond that, women have to pay €144 every month if they don’t have a medical card.
“Some women can’t afford it … It is a sizeable amount of money to pay on top of other expenses like mortgage or rent and other bills,” Grady said.
Women who are pregnant will go to any length to try and keep their pregnancy well and keep their baby well, and will make sacrifices elsewhere in order to afford the strips and needles [for insulin].
Grady explained that women who are on a diet or tablets to monitor their diabetes use the strips to check their blood sugar five times a day, while women on insulin need to do this seven times a day. There are usually 50 strips in each box.
She said that if women can’t afford to buy the strips, midwives at the hospital try to arrange for consultants to test their bloods every few weeks. However, she said this is not ideal as the strips show the blood sugar pattern and so enable medical staff to give women better advice.
For example, the strips might highlight that a woman’s blood sugar is high every morning or evening. This means that treatment can be targeted and/or diet refined.
‘Caught in the middle’
Susan had gestational diabetes during both her pregnancies. At certain stages she “really struggled” with the cost, telling us: “Some months I just didn’t have [the money].”
Her mother has type-2 diabetes and Susan would sometimes borrow her medication and testing strips as she couldn’t afford her own.
She said it’s “a disgrace” the government is not giving more financial support to women with the condition, adding it doesn’t make sense that some politicians have been “so held up on abortion and protecting unborn children but … are depriving them of the medication they need”.
Susan said many women are “caught in the middle” – earning slightly more than the threshold for getting a medical card, while trying to work and pay a mortgage and other bills.
She underwent Caesarean sections with both her children as doctors did not want her to go beyond 38 weeks for fear of having a stillbirth.
Her children are free from diabetes, as is she. However, due to a family history of the condition she fears her or her children may develop the condition at a later stage.
Gestational diabetes usually goes away after pregnancy. However, women who have had the condition are more likely to have it in later pregnancies, and they have an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
Risks of gestational diabetes include:
“If women aren’t being afforded the best opportunity to treat blood sugar those risks do, naturally, increase,” Grady told us, adding that she would like the government to introduce a scheme that would cover the cost of the strips.
Lifelong effects on child
Dr Anna Clarke of Diabetes Ireland (DI) said the organisation has “advocated at the highest level” to get increased support for women with gestational diabetes.
Clarke said DI believes the condition should be covered under the long-term illness scheme as it carries a lifelong health risk.
She said the health of unborn children is being put at risk as not all women can afford the testing strips.
The failure of government to acknowledge the future health risks of the child are atrocious.
Clarke said DI met with Leo Varadkar during his tenure as health minister, and will request a meeting with the new minister once they are appointed.
She said that children of mothers who had gestational diabetes may also be at increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, and more research is needed in this area.
“People think gestational diabetes is just for the duration of the pregnancy, but poor control has lifelong effects on the child.”
HSE
When asked about financial support for women with gestational diabetes, a spokesperson from the HSE told us: “The [health] department has previously clarified that gestational diabetes could not satisfy the requirements of the long-term illness scheme as it could not be understood to be either long-term or permanent.
“Any changes to the regulations to the long-term illness scheme will be a matter for the department of health in due course.”
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What was she thinking about going topless – she surely should have known that his kind of thing could happen.
I know!! the cheek of her thinking she could sun bathe topless in privacy like thousands of women around the world do without peeping toms with zoom lenses taking her photo. completely her own fault.The Damn paparazzi are why I shower with Knickers on.
Well if you take your clothes off in private this is what happens!!! NEVER NEVER remove your clothing.
what about when u have a bath?
NEVER I SAID!!!!
Ha, reminds me of the outraged Sam the American Eagle routine: “All these people walking around when, under their clothes, they’re NAKED! Yes, NAKED!”
I agree Dexter, As the future Queen of England and Knowing what happened with Diana she must have realised that long lens can be used to try get pics like this. Nobody is questioning her decision to go naked or not its irrelevant. But she should have realised that some papparazzi will go to any lengths to get these pictures. She ahould have had something in front of her. a wall, a partition, a hedge, anything so that a long shot like that would have been impossible. She should have known better. These people do NOTHING all day but have an entourage follow them around like lap dogs yet not one of them had the brain to make sure she did not let herself open to this kind of exposure. She needs to wake up and it will happen again, and again, Its irrelevant what we think. The reality is there is demand in the media for all these pics and it will continue whether we like it or not and to deny this is unrealistic.
True Christopher it’s not like she can’t afford the bring a good hedge with her on holidays.
The bould Kate had knickers on too Joy, they are were after her lady lumps
Now if Kate had been a Muslim there’d be riots over these photos…
Ah here, — Eddie would hardly come on and say the paper is screwed considering he works with them.
With your track record Eddie? I guess the Star is gone now.
Let’s get some quality back into Irish journalism and leave publications like the star in the gutter where it belongs
Paper should be closed down,as for Eddie Hobbs don’t start me
no it shouldnt, sure the man trying to close it down once owned a publication called Asian Babes
Enlighten us as to why it should be closed down, Raymond.
Enlighten us about Asian Babes, Gary!
That’s all very well but the “Asian Babes” had agreed to having their photographs taken. The photos of Kate were taken illegally – they are in breach of France’s very strict privacy laws – and should never have been reproduced in the Star. If Desmond does pull out the Star will lose a large amount of it’s content, though if INM keeps it open I guess they can always make it up from that other dreadful rag the Irish Independent.
Apologise and Fire the Editor! enough said! Leave the jobs alone
Please! Kate has boobs , just like every other woman! She took risks when going topless as previous photographs of her honeymoon were already leaked. So I wish the media would get over it…. There are a lot more serious stories to report on ..
I agree Mary …so fed up wit hearing about her and her boobs…
So Mary and Rhonda, it would be OK for someone to snap you and your boobs are publish them online for all to see- in a public domain. And for tthen to make money out of those boobs of yours.
You wouldnt even be the tiniest bit upset then?
Don’t miss the main issue here.
Paul of course noone should have their privacy invaded like this. But I don’t think that’s the bones of the issue. The daily star is a rag and its only use as I see it is to toilet train my dog. but that’s my opinion.
The issue here is why should Kate be treated any differently than any other of the daily stars subjects. I don’t agree with any of it, but In Ireland at least Kate Middleton is similar to other celebrities . They paper should not be shut down because of these particular pictures. The fact is its one guy who happens to own half if it all of a sudden seems to like some moral high ground (cause it might affect his wallet in the UK) and he says he’ll shut it down. if the reaction was different he’d be parading around for photo ops with o’kane..
langer
Paper should say sorry in gross error of judgement etc, a lot of jobs on the line etc and they’ll be ok I think, a joke of a newspaper tho
It’s a complete rag, always has been, worse than the Sun if that’s possible. It would be great to see it off the shelves….
We all have a choice whether to buy the Star or not. If it is still going then it must sell pretty well and meet some kind of demand.
Getting rid of it as it’s a “rag” or “tacky” won’t mean its readers will start reading the Times, the Indo or even the Journal. But it will mean lots of jobs lost and given the small size of the Irish media industry, they won’t be able to find new ones that easily.
What I think is wonderful about this episode is how it reminds us how much of the Irish media is actually British owned and how culturally confused so many are…
Sean, after 800 years………….nah, wont go there!
Its worse if you bring in the Barney and iCarly-speak of the younger age group!
Dammit, Friday was the only day i forgot to buy it. :)
The star didn’t print the pics til Saturday. Just saying ;)
What about all the actors for the problem page where will they find work keep it open
Im sure they could find room for their method acting style at Fair City.
From a purely business perspective, it doesn’t seem over the top at all. The money Desmond gets from the Irish Daily Star must be pretty farcically small-fry compared to the value of his Star/Express/OK! brand in the UK . Yet it’s demonstrated that – as he’s tied to it perception wise, but with no control – that it has the potential to cost him significant damage and lost revenue in the UK.
It’s a liability. To be honest, I’d be very surprised if the owners of the Daily Mail hadn’t spent the weekend pouring over their agreements with the Irish Daily Mail to see if they had a risk of a similar exposure to their British interests by potential Irish editorial decisions.
Sounds like he just found a good excuse to shut the paper. It will not be missed.
What a joke! The paper screwed up and deserve what they get. But in a less selfish world…. The person who made the decison to publish the picture would apologize and resign from their job…. However…. This is Ireand….. No one resigns from jobs for poor judgement or errors nor are individuals held accountable.
Your comment is the only one that gave a proper overview, they were on a private holiday, can no one have privacy these days, once again great reply
Rabbitte gives us his thumbs up to “more tits on Irish newspapers please”. As if we haven’t enough of that already. Up with that sort of thing
And he has given the OK for some to make money from pictures taken without the owners consent.
Rabbitte is wrong on so many levels.
Sack the editor then and leave the other staff in place. Feckin eegit O’Kane – got it all wrong, misread the decency of most of the Irish public.
While I agree with everything you have said Paul, Kate needs to cop on.
She is one of the most famous women in the world and she went topless on a balcony. The lowlife who took the pic was on a public road. You’d nearly think it was done on purpose.
Rabbitte backs up tabloid in the hope they call the hounds off his Labour Party before the next election
that doesnt look right either …i give up
O’Kane got it so wrong. Totally misjudged the Irish public and showed himself up as a misogynist. Stupid man to say that it was no different than photos of Lady Gaga etc. I am fairly certain that Lady Gaga wouldn’t have been too pleased if it had been sneaky photos of her sunbathing either
I am sure she knew very well that she would be seen. Anyway whats all the fuss for? Prince Harry showed off a lot more with less fuss.
Ahh come on. She knew they were there. We’re lucky it wasn’t Camilla
Of course she knew they were there, she was born with them. As for your knowing….shame on you!
haven’t you more important issues to sort rabbite like broadband rollout?get the finger out and stop worrying about tabloid rubbish
jail the person that took the photographs and the editors of the newspapers that publish them. They knowing took and paid for illegal photographs for greed. Would you like it if someone took an intimate photograph of any of your family and saw it in the newspapers the next day?? Bet you wouldn’t, so what’s the difference here? everyone deserves the right to privacy.
It is pure elitism, The end of the day Kate is apparently going to be the future queen of England. Never seen pictures of Diana like that published in the papers. They are no different to any other celebrity in this country. No one objects when snaps of celebrities appear without consent in those rags. As for Desmond chasing his knighthood, and runs an empire built on sleaze and the degradation of women. The hypocrisy of all this stinks and how it has got so much media attention in the wake of tragedies in the north and the ten year old in Co. Offaly leaves a lot to be desired.
Looks like Labour Government has succeeded in insulting another sovereign state – first the Vatican, now the UK. Would have thought we could do with all the friends we could get, at the momemt! … Parcochial, inappropriate and short-sighted response from Pat Rabbitte.
Perhaps Rabbite will include the Star in the licence fee?
give all the profits for that day to charity, paper is shown no profit to be made in cheap sleaze and charitys win..
When are the press going to realise that everyone is entitled to their privacy when they are “not on duty”. Yes, they are public property when they are working on state business or other public duties, but outside “work” they should be left alone, rather than be preyed on by vultures!
“Irish Daily Star editor Michael O’Kane said he believed the images to be tasteful, and pointed out that the photos of Middleton – who, he said, would never be Queen of Ireland – had not appeared in the edition of the paper circulated in Northern Ireland.”
Ah but in Ireland it’s ok to invade one’s privacy but not in the North? Disgusting.
Northern & Shell has previously been the UK publisher of the adult magazines Penthouse and Asian Babes among others. hypocrisy?? No, I enjoy this stuff, the models volunteer and are highly paid. But publishing semi-naked pictures without permission is the same as sticking a hidden camera up someone skirt.
You disgust me.
I prefer the club orange ads!!
sorry charities
Surely there are more important issues that could be getting covered by the media than some posh bints less than impressive boobage, bread and circuses
The porn merchant is a social climber currying favour with the English Establishment in the hope of a knighthood.
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