The first few months

Breast-feeding

There are lots of good reasons for breast-feeding your baby if you can:

• A mother's milk contains just the right mixture for her growing baby
• The mixture alters slightly as the baby grows to meet his or her changing needs
• Breast milk contains antibodies to fight off infections and diseases
• Milk coming straight from your breast is always spotlessly clean and baby can digest it easily

Breast-feeding and your blood glucose

When you breast-feed you will probably need less insulin than normal as a lot of our blood glucose will be used to make a sugar called lactose in your breast milk.

• Because breast-feeding will reduce your blood glucose levels, watch out for hypos; avoid them by eating extra snacks
• Make sure you get a snack ready before you go to bed, you may need to eat when you feed your baby during the night
• Drink plenty of fluid to replace your breast milk - sugar-free drinks of course!

How long should you breast-feed for?

Specialists recommend that you feed your baby exclusively on breast milk for the first six months, then introduce solid food gradually while continuing to breast-feed as well. They suggest you continue to provide a mixture of solid food and breast milk until your baby is one to two years old. You may also find that continuing to breast-feed helps you to lose any extra weight - a very pleasant discovery for many women. (There is an old wives tale that you cannot conceive while you are breast-feeding - don't believe it!)

Sometimes breast-feeding just does not work out for you and that can be very disappointing. If that happens, don't worry. Bottle-feeding mums are just as good mothers as breast-feeding mums.

Your postnatal check up

Six weeks after your baby is born, you will have a postnatal check up, which will include:

• A review of your diabetes treatment regimen
• An opportunity to talk about your diabetes control as your body adjusts
• A discussion about contraception

Never again? For the first few weeks you may be saying to yourself 'Never again' - many women do! If you decide you want another baby, talk to your Diabetes Specialist Nurse while you are still using contraception and you can plan for your next healthy pregnancy together.