Steel Magnolias offer and a discussion of pregnancy and diabetes

Discounted tickets Employees can get tickets to Sunday’s 6:30 p.m. showing of Steel Magnolias for $21.50 each. Students can buy tickets for $14 a piece. Call Lora Kaup at 402-553-0800 to reserve your tickets.

Steel Magnolias — the play about a tightly knit group of southern women that includes an expectant mother with diabetes — is showing at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

Employees and students at UNMC, UNMC Physicians and The Nebraska Medical Center can get discounted tickets to Sunday’s performance (see sidebar).

In recognition of the offer and the play’s run at the playhouse, Carl Smith, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology, discusses pregnancy among women with diabetes.

What risks do women with diabetes and their babies face during pregnancy and childbirth?

Babies of mothers with diabetes have an increased risk of physical abnormalities — in particular in the heart or in the spine. They also run the risk of having extremely low blood sugars. Mothers with diabetes run a higher risk of having preeclampsia, which can result in early delivery.

Win free tickets Visit UNMC’s Facebook page today at noon to participate in a trivia challenge. Win the challenge and get two free tickets to Sunday’s performance of Steel Magnolias.

In Steel Magnolias, the character with diabetes had an underlying kidney issue and that puts the situation into a completely different category of risk and in rare cases, this situation can lead to kidney failure during pregnancy.

How can health care professionals help women with diabetes during pregnancy and delivery?

The best thing is to have pregnancies properly planned. If mothers with diabetes plan their pregnancies and keep blood sugars close to normal levels, the likelihood greatly increases of them having normal pregnancies.

What advances in medicine have occurred to help in such cases?

Advances in insulin pumps make it easier for some women to maintain normal blood sugars and some newer insulins make it easier to fine tune blood sugar control but ultimately it still comes down to good planning and maintenance of blood sugar by the patient.