Ask the Birth Guru

Thanks!!

Janette

Congrats!  Twins, huh?

I don't know if that has ever really been researched...but if anyone knows, Henci will.  I hope she has the time to answer!

I'll comment though on the feeling of being "coerced" into the test...sometimes that can mean that it is time to find a new care provider...but honestly, you are going to be very hard put to find one that doesn't insist on the GD screen--even my CPM did.  I chose to just not make a battle about it...but also not do anything that might cause me to fail the test.  For example...in my second pregnancy I let my daughter drink some of the glucola.  In my 4th, when the lab was slow about drawing my blood I answered "yes" when they said "has it been about one hour since you ate?" (my midwife uses a food based test) even though it had been 1.5 hrs--that's "about" an hour, right? ;-)

Good luck!

Jenn

Janette

I recommend raising this point with your dr. I would certainly think that a multiple pregnancy would affect glucose values. The physiologic reason why glucose values are normally elevated in pregnancy is to fuel the growth of the baby, and you've got two of them. If your dr plans to use the same values, I would insist on seeing research that confirms that it isn't necessary to adjust them because normal ranges do not differ.

Are you sure that you don't want to "just say no"? You do--or at least you should--have the right to informed refusal. There are some pretty respectable people saying that routine testing should be abandoned because it doesn't improve outcomes, among them the authors of the evidence-based A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. 

-- Henci

Janette