Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnancy: Insulin and Glucagon Action, Blood Sugar Control and Postpartum Care

A midwifery deck on diabetes as a metabolic disorder of multiple aetiology that disturbs carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism, on how insulin and glucagon hold blood sugar at normal levels, and on the hyperglycaemia that follows when insulin is deficient or ineffective. It takes the effects on mother and fetus, the diet, insulin and monitoring used to control it, and the postpartum care: continuing blood sugar monitoring, adjusting insulin to the readings, adding 40 to 50 g of carbohydrate, encouraging breastfeeding and giving antibiotics after a caesarean section because of the infection risk.