Pictured: Jo McBride diabetes and Insulin Pump Specialist, with our Chairman Andy Field and some mums attending the support group.

Ashford and St Peter’s have recently launched a support group for mums, or mums to be, that have Type 1 Diabetes and use an insulin pump.

The support group was set up by Jo McBride our Diabetes and Insulin Pump Specialist Nurse and is held in our specialist diabetes centre Stephanie Marks.

Jo comments: “I set up this support group called ‘Bumps and Pumps’ for mums/or mums to be who have Type 1 diabetes and who use insulin pumps to manage their diabetes. I found a lot of mums did not know anyone else with Type 1 diabetes let alone using a pump.

“Pregnancy/childbirth and coping afterwards with small children is hard enough but these ladies have the added challenge of their diabetes. They have to work really hard in pregnancy testing their blood glucose up to 10 times a day to maintain good diabetes control.

“We meet in the Stephanie Marks Centre approximately every eight weeks and it is an opportunity for those to share experiences and generally have some support from mums going through the same challenges.  We have had some excellent feedback from our ladies and look forward to seeing more mums and babies in 2018.”