The Diabetic Mammy Podcast

In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , we gently unpack one of the biggest myths in diabetes care: that insulin pumps are automatically the “best” option for everyone living with type 1 diabetes. Inspired by an online reaction to a public insulin injection before an interview with the UK Prime Minister, this conversation explores the pressure, assumptions, and quiet judgement that can sur...

In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy, I reflect on the kind of diabetes community we are building: both online and in person; and the kind of space I hope my own children will find when navigating life with type 1 diabetes. Because the truth is, the internet rewards fear and anger. Loudness grows quickly. Outrage spreads easily. And yet families living with type 1 diabetes have already carried mo...

In this reflective episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , I look back on a year of weekly conversations about parenting and living with type 1 diabetes. From the unseen work behind each episode to the global community quietly listening each week, this is a heartfelt thank you. I also share an important update as the podcast moves away from a weekly schedule. If you are parenting a child with type...

What does a low blood sugar actually feel like? In this episode, Catherine shares a real, lived description of hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes, beyond the clinical definitions. From the early physical signs to the emotional and cognitive impact, she explains why a low can feel “grim” and deeply unsettling. Designed for parents, partners, and anyone supporting someone with T1D, this episode offers...

In this reflective episode, Catherine shares the powerful impact of spending time within the diabetes community, after attending her first diabetes community gathering of 2026. From heartfelt conversations with newly diagnosed families to meaningful exchanges with healthcare professionals, she explores how connection, shared experience, and lived understanding can transform life with type 1 diabet...

In Episode 3 of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast we explored the idea that diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint . In this episode, Catherine returns to that idea and takes it one step further. Because raising a child with type 1 diabetes is not only about managing numbers today. It is about shaping how that child will live with diabetes for the rest of their life . This episode explores a powerful paren...

In this reflective episode of The Diabetic Mammy , Catherine looks back across generations of living with type 1 diabetes. Diagnosed as a child decades ago, she reflects on the quiet work her parents carried so she could remain a child. Now raising children with type 1 diabetes herself, she shares what previous generations can teach us about parenting through the daily demands of diabetes. This ep...

When blood sugar drops, behaviour can change in ways that confuse or alarm the people around us. In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy , Catherine explores the psychology of hypoglycaemia and why people with low blood sugar may appear argumentative, emotional, or unwilling to accept help. Through practical insight and lived experience, she explains the biology behind these moments and offers gentl...

What does low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) really feel like from the inside? In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , Catherine explores why people often panic when someone with type 1 diabetes is going low, and why the instinct to call an ambulance is not always the right response. We unpack the reality of hypoglycaemia behaviour , the dignity and autonomy of the person experiencing it, and...

In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy , we explore hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) in type 1 diabetes, not just as a number on a glucose monitor, but as a real physical and emotional experience in the body. Catherine explains the symptoms of high blood sugar including fatigue, brain fog, thirst, irritability and dehydration, and why people living with diabetes can slowly lose awareness of how un...

In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy , Catherine explores looming hypoglycaemia: the moment when blood glucose is falling but hasn’t yet reached a clinical low. Why can a perfectly “in-range” number suddenly feel frightening? Using the powerful comparison of a migraine aura , this episode unpacks the physiology, psychology and parenting realities of downward arrows, anticipatory fear and decision...

This special International Women’s Day episode of The Diabetic Mammy is an homage to the women who quietly carry diabetes in their bodies, their homes, and their hearts. In this reflective episode, Catherine explores the powerful parallels between the cultural figure of the Irish Mammy and the modern “diabetes mammy”, women who hold families together while simultaneously managing the relentless me...

What worked last month may stop working tomorrow. In this gentle educational episode within The Things We Were Not Taught series of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , Catherine explores one of the most unsettling realities of parenting a child with type 1 diabetes: growth changes everything. From pre-puberty’s quiet insulin resistance to puberty’s loud hormonal shifts, this episode explains why insulin...

In Episode 9 the idea of decision burden in type 1 diabetes was introduced. In this episode, we go deeper. Because every number comes with a choice. And every choice carries weight. On their own, these decisions seem small. Together, they are relentless. Episode 44 explores the invisible toll of decision fatigue - the constant cognitive load, the pressure to get it right, and the quiet emotional t...

In this gentle and grounding episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , we explore one of the most frustrating and misunderstood parts of living with Type 1 diabetes: waking up high before the day has even begun. If you’ve ever opened your eyes, checked the monitor, and felt that sinking feeling of being “behind” before breakfast, this episode is for you. Catherine explains the dawn phenomenon in cle...

Compression lows are one of those diabetes experiences that can feel frightening, disruptive, and deeply unsettling - yet are rarely explained clearly at diagnosis. In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , Catherine explores what compression lows actually are, why they happen most often at night, and why they can so easily shake confidence in both the technology and ourselves. Through a rea...

This episode marks Imbolc and St Brigid’s Day, a quiet hinge in the Irish year that reminds us that not all beginnings need to be loud or dramatic. Imbolc is about noticing small shifts, the light arriving a little earlier, the dark loosening its grip, and the reassurance of “just enough”. For those of us living with chronic conditions, raising children with type 1 diabetes, or simply carrying a l...

This week’s episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast introduces a new gentle mini-series called The Things We Were Not Taught which exploring some quiet curriculum gaps that shape life with Type 1 diabetes. Drawing on her research with parents of children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Catherine reflects on how much education arrives at times when learning simply isn’t possible. Overwhelm, fear, and...

Living with or parenting Type 1 diabetes can feel relentlessly isolating. The decisions start before breakfast and often stretch long past bedtime. In this episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , we explore why community connection is not an optional extra in Type 1 diabetes care, but a vital part of thriving . This episode speaks directly to parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, adults living...

In this reflective episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , I sit with the idea of choosing your hard . Inspired by a Saint Stephen’s Day run and an honest conversation about work, home, food, movement and the everyday decisions we make, this episode explores a simple but powerful truth: life is hard, and so is living with and/or parenting type 1 diabetes. There is no easy option, only the path we...

For many families, the 6th of January marks the true end of Christmas. In Ireland, it is known as Nollaig na mBan , Women’s Christmas, a day that traditionally honours the invisible work carried by women and offers a long-overdue pause. In this reflective episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , I explore what it means to return to diabetes routines after the holidays without guilt, rigidity, or pr...

As this year draws to a close, this gentle episode invites you to pause before the countdown begins. Drawing on a Scottish New Year tradition of opening the back door to let the old year out, and the front door to welcome the new one in, Catherine reflects on what it truly means to live through another year with type 1 diabetes. The hard days survived. The quiet wins that often go unnoticed. The l...

In this Christmas week episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , Catherine reflects on how to honour celebration while living with and parenting type 1 diabetes. Sparked by a simple comment, “Christmas must be a nightmare”, she gently challenges the idea that diabetes must dominate special days. This episode offers reassurance for anyone navigating their first festive season with type 1 diabetes, al...

In this reflective episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast , I explore life with type 1 diabetes through a triplex identity: living as a person with T1D, a healthcare professional, and a parent raising children with type 1 diabetes. These three perspectives shape how language, advice, and reassurance land in everyday life. We sit with familiar phrases often heard in diabetes care, such as “I don’t k...

In this comforting episode of The Diabetic Mammy , we explore the emotional reality of living with a chronic condition through the lens of the Christine Miserandino's Spoon Theory (see link below) and my own gentle twist on it: the Spoons of Sugar Theory . Together we look at how type 1 diabetes quietly drains our daily energy, why so many of us wake up already short on spoons, and how this consta...