About.com Rating
Updated March 26, 2015.
Publisher's Site
"Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby" by Cheryl Alkon is an insider's guide to balancing pregnancy with the realities of diabetes management, which include insulin, diet, exercise, and blood sugar monitoring.
Pros
- Packed with useful information and advice
- Delivers information in a humorous and easy-to-understand way
- Full of advice from people who have been there
- Relatable
Cons
- Because it is written in a casual conversational way, it can take some effort to find the information needed. However the writing style gives the book a more friendly feel.
Guide Review
Cheryl Alkon, the book's author, has been a member of the online diabetes community for a while and has been a member of a support website I started in 2001 called Diabetic Mommy. She has "been there" and has sought and given valuable advice over the years. You will find quotes from me and other members from the online diabetes community in this book.
"Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes" is a good book for women dealing with this situation for a couple reasons. There is a lot of information and books on gestational diabetes, but not as many have covered pregnancy with pre-existing type 2 diabetes and type 1 diabetes. Also, while the treatments are very similar for both types of pre-existing diabetes, there are other important considerations, risks, and factors that are unique for type 2 diabetes.
When I decided to get pregnant, my own doctor didn't know what to expect or how to prepare. When I asked what I should do, he simply said, have fun. Before I knew it, I was pregnant with out of control blood sugar levels and in an absolute panic. Because I hadn't prepared, I had raised my risk for complications and birth defects in the baby. Pregnancy was a rollercoaster for me. It was scary and lonely. Pregnancy with diabetes is hard work. I looked high and low for books, websites, and support groups. I could not find any. I wish I could have had a book like this one.
The book takes you chronologically from trying to conceive, through each trimester, and to birth. It walks you through tests and gives helpful advice. You can even find subjects such as infertility and loss.
I was very surprised to find natural birth options and birth plans included. These are a couple things that women with diabetes think they cannot have. wanted to have a more natural birth and to my surprise my birth plan was not followed. If I had read this book, I would have had the knowledge to try to make these things happen.
There is a handy glossary in the back of the book that covers terms heard often during a pregnancy with diabetes, and there is an absolutely fantastic resource section that lists tons of helpful websites. This girl can hook you up!
This is a great resource full of useful information. If you have type 2 diabetes and are trying to conceive or just thinking about having children someday, check this book out because it will give you an idea of what to expect and help you prepare. Most importantly, it will let you know that you are not alone and that you can do what it takes to help you have a successful pregnancy and birth.
Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes Chapters
- Chapter 1: Recommendations for Trying to Conceive: If you Can, You've Gotta Plan
- Chapter 2: I See Two Lines, Now What?
- Chapter 3: What Do I Eat?
- Chapter 4: Tests and Bloods and Rockin Goals: Pregnancy Assessments and Prenatal Exams
- Chapter 5: In the Thick of It
- Chapter 6: Approaching the Big Day
- Chapter 7: The Big Day
Publisher's Site
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.