A Practical Guide to Insulin Pump Therapy for Pregnancy
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly twenty-four-million people in the United States have diabetes. That number is increasing rapidly, particularly amongst younger age groups. All forms of the disease are becoming much more common. For example, gestational diabetes (diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy), which can adversely affect mothers and their unborn children.
As the incidence of all types of diabetes rises, the need for effective treatment becomes more urgent. It is this urgency that makes books like A Practical Guide to Insulin Pump Therapy for Pregnancy invaluable for pregnant women and their physicians. James Bernasko, a maternal-fetal-medicine specialist certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, as well as a diabetes educator, shares with the reader the knowledge he has gained in over twenty years of treating diabetic mothers. He offers a detailed protocol for treating insulin-requiring diabetes in pregnant women, asserting, “insulin pump therapy, if used by skilled practitioners and patients according to an appropriate protocol, can play a significant role in treating diabetes during pregnancy.”
The author thoroughly explains many of the complexities involved in treating the pregnant diabetic patient. He discusses the differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as gestational diabetes. He details multiple methods of treatment and explains when and why he recommends insulin pump therapy for pregnant women. The book features twenty-one parts, including topics related to preconception, pregnancy, labor, delivery, and post-delivery. Within these twenty-one parts there are 132 chapters. The chapters cover every detail of treating pregnant diabetic women, from choosing appropriate candidates for pump therapy, to determining insulin doses, to monitoring blood glucose, to breast feeding. The writing is clear and straightforward and the author is never condescending or confusing. Dr. Bernasko concludes his book with seven tables in the appendix that do a wonderful job of summarizing many of the main topics in the book. There is also an extensive list of references.
A Practical Guide to Insulin Pump Therapy for Pregnancy is a highly valuable resource for both physicians and their patients. Achieving good blood-glucose control during pregnancy can be particularly difficult, but it is crucial if both mother and child are to avoid diabetic complications. Readers of this book will gain a firm understanding in how to use insulin pumps to treat diabetes during pregnancy. Medical practitioners, diabetic women and their children ,the world over, will benefit from this knowledge.
Reviewed by
Catherine Thureson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
