Type 2 Diabetes - Breastfeeding After Having Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is the type of diabetes associated with pregnancy and the form of diabetes doctors test the pregnant mother for at around four months. Mothers who have this form of diabetes and their children are at risk for developing full-blown Type 2 diabetes as well as several birth defects, so it is important to prevent or control the condition. According to researchers at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California and the University of California at Davis, United States, breastfeeding can also be problematic in women who were diagnosed with Gestational diabetes.

Their study, reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in November 2013, included 883 women who had Gestational diabetes and whose blood sugar levels returned to normal 6 to 9 weeks after delivery.

• 1/3 of the women were late starting to produce milk for their babies.
• obese women were 56 percent more likely to start late than healthy weight women.
• women treated with insulin for Gestational diabetes were more than 3 times more likely to have delayed onset of milk production.

From these results it was suggested new mothers with obesity or Gestational diabetes, be given extra support learning to breastfeed their newborn baby.

Breastfeeding has advantages over formula for both mothers and their infants.

• mothers who breastfeed lower their risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
• breastfeeding can also help with weight loss and with helping the uterus to return to its normal size and shape after pregnancy.
• it is an ideal time for the new mother to take a break and for important mother-child bonding.

As many pediatricians put it, "Cow's milk is for baby cows." Babies fed breast milk get more whey, the healthful kind of protein produced by human mothers, and less casein, the less healthful (for human children) kind of protein produced by cows.

When babies are fed from a bottle and stop feeding, there is a tendency to look at the bottle, see that it is still half full, and put it back into the baby's mouth after he or she is no longer hungry. This obviously does not happen when baby stops sucking breast milk, and he or she does not learn early the bad habit of overeating because it is there.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a website at Womens Health.gov. Comprehensive information from how milk is made - to how to hold your baby - to measuring how much milk baby is getting - and making sure the amount is adequate - are all included.

Doctors and midwives can recommend consultants and classes on breastfeeding. Many hospitals also have consultants available to help new mothers and their babies get off to a good start.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. By making simple changes to your daily routine, its possible to protect your heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs from the damage often caused by Type 2 diabetes, and eliminate many of the complications you may already experience.