MandDET: A Background Brief

Trustees

Andrew Cook (Chairman),
Mandy Cook (Vice Chairman),
Jenny Carley (Secretary)
Keith Carley (Treasurer)

Why and How We set up MandDET

Mandy has been an Insulin dependent diabetic for the past 32 years. She is married to Andrew, a farmer, and they have 2 boys aged 11 and 9 years. Their third child, Claire, contracted Dilated Cardio-Myopathy in January 2000 as the result of a viral infection. Claire died in June 2000 aged 20 months following a heart transplant, with unforeseen complications.

Mandy's first pregnancy with Robin had several difficulties due to diabetes and she was hospitalised for 3 weeks before delivery. Her second pregnancy with Tim was fairly normal with careful monitoring by both the obstetric department and the Diabetic Consultant. Towards the end of her third pregnancy with Claire, she was hospitalised in the Friarage Hospital Northallerton for several weeks before a Caesarean Section was performed and Claire was bom. Mandy then suffered a postnatal trauma of an unknown cause resulting in unconsciousness and a medical/obstetric emergency. Due to excellent care from all involved she eventually made an excellent recovery. During the post natal period extra support was required from Health Visitors and Community Midwives.

Following Claire’s birth, several members of the obstetric unit expressed a wish to understand more about diabetes. This resulted in a meeting between Midwives and the Diabetes Centre at the Hospital, funded by the family, which took the form of a question and answer session, to ascertain what further knowledge and education could be made available. It was following this meeting that we, the family, decided we needed to act and our Trust was established on 1st April 1999 under the name of MandDET (Midwifery and Diabetes Educational Trust). The object of the Trust, is: To advance for the public benefit the education of Midwives and other Nursing and Medical Staff in the care and management of Diabetic Ante and Post Natal patients.

Progress

Since being formed we have raised over £23,000 through various fond raising activities and from donations and grants. Midwives and doctors have attended various courses in this specialist field. As a result of this initiative various changes in procedures and protocol have been introduced. We have commissioned the production of an educational CD ROM to provide an accurate and up to date protocol for the care of diabetic ante and postnatal patients. This training aid is in use in 11 Universities and Hospitals We came into being because of the circumstances of Claire's birth.

We see our work now as a memorial to her short life.