Episode 255 - Dawn Adams, Women's Health Series: Diabetes, Pregnancy and Postnatal Care

It’s another National Diabetes Awareness Month, so you know what that means - A NEW SERIES. Over the next four episodes, Rob and Eritrea will have conversations with women's health experts in Diabetics Doing Things’ Women’s Health Series.

For Episode One of this series, we were thrilled to chat with Dawn Adams, PhD student, midwife, diabetes advocate, and mother of FOUR! The team talked about

  • Dawn’s diagnosis in 1993 with a symptom we hadn’t yet heard of: bloody palms

  • Being told she would never get pregnant because of diabetes

  • Getting pregnant unexpectedly and being told that pregnancy with diabetes would probably not result in a good outcome

    • Being warned to only have two children; she had four!

  • A career shift into midwifery after becoming a mom with T1D

  • Understanding why women with diabetes have to see their doctor much more often than women living without diabetes

  • How far we’ve come: meters used to take five minutes to give a reading!

  • Diabetes and pregnancy isn’t neccesarily the pretty picture Instagram and social media paint it to be

  • BEATING THE FINAL BOSS: The fourth trimester and the challenges that come after baby arrives, even when baby and mom are healthy

  • What support looks like from the community around you

  • Life after baby arrival can be hard: make space for the difficult moments as much as we cherish the good moments

  • Advice for Partners: How can you better care for your spouse who is living with diabetes after they birthed a child?

  • Mentioned: The HAPO Trial - https://www.2minutemedicine.com/the-hapo-trial-hyperglycemia-and-adverse-pregnancy-outcomes-classics-series/#:~:text=This landmark study demonstrated that,risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

    Find Dawn on IG @T1dawnie