Brooke: Turned around gestational diabetes and went from 'high risk' to a dream water birth

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD) at 28 weeks pregnant. It came as a complete shock to me as I had been mostly pretty well for the first two trimesters; however, the third trimester hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I was referred to the hospital diabetes clinic and to an endocrinologist. I felt frustrated and helpless. It was then that I reached out to Robyn as she had helped me with previous health issues.

Robyn explained the connection between dietary fat and the insulin resistance underlying my GD.

Her recommendations were clear and simple:

• Eat a wholefood plant-based diet with 10% or less of daily energy coming from fat.


• Eat abundantly of green leafy vegetables and other non-starchy vegetables, legumes, and whole grains and fruits with a low glycaemic load.


• Temporarily avoid plant foods with a high glycaemic load, until my blood glucose readings were normal, and then slowly reintroduce them.


• Walk for 20 minutes after each meal.

She also instructed me in how to use a diet tracking app to help me stay under the 10% calories from fat target.

From previous study, I was aware that a low fat whole food vegan diet was being used successfully to treat and reverse type 2 diabetes. I had seen this research presented by leading doctors in preventive health, and this is the diet-style generally recommended by Robyn.

Although gestational diabetes has different triggers (caused by hormones in the placenta with pregnancy being the risk factor) than type 2 diabetes, and therefore different safety brackets for insulin tolerance and blood glucose levels, the effects of removing (nearly) all fats from the diet has the same underlying impact: rapidly making these cells effectively absorb and process sugars in the blood.

However, this placed me in quite a dilemma as the diet Robyn suggested was almost the complete opposite of that prescribed by the hospital diabetes clinic, which was relatively low in carbohydrates and quite high in fat.

I really wanted to avoid ending up on insulin injections, which 70% of women who develop GD have to take. Backed up by some scientific articles on diabetes that Robyn sent me, I decided to commit to the diet she suggested.

Robyn explained that dropping fat intake pays off in lower blood glucose levels within 10-14 days. I had complete trust in her knowledge, and she was right: Reducing the fat intake to under 10% of total calories got me from blood glucose results in a range where I was prescribed insulin by the endocrinologist, to stable (without taking any insulin) within 10 days.

At my follow-up appointment 2 weeks later, I was able to demonstrate to the endocrinologist that I had a good handle on the way I was managing my diet, which looked nothing like the hospital recommended diabetes diet. I got to enjoy my favourite foods - pasta, potatoes, bread, rice etc without restriction and present stable BGLs the whole time.

I asked to be dismissed from the diabetes clinic and was approved, with the caution that I still had to continue checking my levels 4 times a day and ensure that I stayed diet controlled.

That was no problem for me, as it was such simple to understand science that it was easy to make minor changes and have such an impactful positive outcome on my overall health. By maintaining the low fat whole food vegan diet, I stopped gaining weight and even lost a few kilograms at a stage of pregnancy when it's more normal to continue gaining. Overall, I felt much better equipped to handle the physical demands of late pregnancy. All growth scans were showing perfect baby development too.

Once you have been diagnosed with GD you are treated as a high risk patient, in most cases requiring much more intervention up to and during labour such as induction, drips etc. It was my goal to have a calm natural water birth so I had to negotiate my way out of these imposed expectations.

I researched all possible implications of GD thoroughly and made an informed decision that there was now zero risk to my baby, hence I asked to be dismissed from seeing the obstetrics team and be handed back to midwifery care. The Head of Obstetrics at the hospital attempted to discourage me on the basis of “protocol” however, all others who were following my case and saw what I had achieved, and how thoroughly I had researched, were fully supportive.

I had the green light from the Head of Midwifery to proceed with no intervention on the GD front as I was no longer considered “high risk”. I happily agreed to have bub's sugars tested after birth.

He came on Monday 30th December. After empowering myself with full control over my health I felt strong, confident and ready for the challenge of birth. Relaxed even! After the stress of the GD diagnosis to get to this place of calm was a huge turn around.

My birth was perfect. No doctors. Just my partner, student midwife and on shift overseeing midwife. No guilt, shame, pressure or pushing unnecessary monitoring. A calm, natural water birth with zero complications. Of course our baby passed his 24 hours of sugar testing and is kicking all the goals and breastfeeding like a champion.

Gestational diabetes is a horrible and stressful diagnosis but thankfully I jumped on this fast and healed myself resulting in an empowering pregnancy, healthy baby and general improved mind set.

I also love knowing that I don’t have to give up avocado and hemp seeds forever! No whole food plant food is bad. I’ve already reintroduced these foods now but I know to stick to the crux of low fat whole food vegan diet to maintain my best health.

Brooke, NSW