GESTATIONAL DIABETES
Have you been diagnosed with gestational diabetes? I can provide you with both nutrition and diabetes education services, to help you in managing your diabetes during pregnancy and meeting your general nutritional needs to ensure a healthy pregnancy for both you and your baby.
I will work closely with you and your obstetrician, endocrinologist and/or GP to help you in managing your diabetes during your pregnancy.
If you have gestational diabetes, I can help you with the following:
- Education about gestational diabetes and its management
- Dietary management of gestational diabetes along with meeting general nutritional needs for pregnancy
- Exercise and other lifestyle factors
- Self blood glucose monitoring
- Insulin administration (if needed)
- Education on post-partum lifestyle changes to reduce your future diabetes risk
YOUR GESTATIONAL DIABETES CONSULTATIONS: WHAT TO EXPECT
Your first consultation will take 60 minutes and is devoted to collecting a history from you and providing education about gestational diabetes, including how to monitor your blood glucose levels.
As a dietitian and diabetes educator, my role is to assess your nutrition and diabetes education needs, to determine the changes that may help you in managing your condition and to provide the education you need to do this. We will discuss your current lifestyle, weight history, medical and family history, usual eating patterns and activity levels, and your current knowledge about gestational diabetes and its management.
The aim of our first consultation is to provide you with the knowledge you need to make healthy food choices for pregnancy, to help with managing your blood glucose levels as well as ensuring you are meeting your nutritional needs for pregnancy. If you are not already monitoring, I will also provide you with a blood glucose meter, teach you how to monitor and register you for the National Diabetes Supplies Scheme (NDSS) so that you can access subsidised blood glucose test strips.
In most cases, our first follow-up appointment will be booked after 2-3 weeks, but we will also remain in regular email contact between appointments. In subsequent consultations, we will review your progress, answer questions you may have, and I will provide further education tailored to your needs. Follow-up appointments are usually 30 minutes long.
The number and frequency of further follow-up appointments will depend on your stage of pregnancy and your blood glucose levels. Some women only need two appointments while in other cases we need more regular appointments to review and adjust your eating plan, and if required, to teach you how to give insulin.
All consultations are provided by telehealth (videoconference or phone) – more details can be found below.
WHAT IS TELEHEALTH?
Telehealth consultations are conducted by videoconference or telephone, depending on your preference.
Video consultations are similar to a face-to-face consultation but conducted by videoconference – we can see each other and I can share my screen with you when providing education. We use a secure telehealth platform, designed specifically for healthcare consultations.
Phone consultations are conducted by telephone, so we won’t be able to see each other but otherwise the content of our consultations are the same as if I was to see you in person or by videoconference.
CONSULTATION FEES AND REBATES
Fees are $230 for the initial consultation and $110 for follow-up consultations. Fees are payable on the day of consultation by credit card or EFT.
Rebates are available from most private health funds as part of ‘extras’ cover. Rebates vary according to the fund, your level of cover, and whether it is an initial or follow-up appointment. We will provide you with a receipt to submit to your fund for a rebate.
Medicare provides rebates for dietitians and diabetes educators for certain conditions and circumstances. To find out if you are eligible, speak with your GP, who will need to provide you with the relevant referral form. We don’t bulk bill so you will need to pay your account on the day and we can submit your receipt to Medicare to process your rebate. The current Medicare rebate is $56.00 for both initial and review consultations.