NHS offers artificial pancreas to pregnant women with T1 diabetes

The NHS announced a first-of-its-kind initiative in England, offering automated insulin delivery systems for pregnant women with diabetes.

NHS said its local healthcare systems can offer enhanced hybrid closed-loop systems, also known as artificial pancreases, to women with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. This way, they can effectively manage their blood glucose levels.

To date, more than 600 pregnant women with type 1 diabetes already received their artificial pancreas under the effort’s first phase. They all receive an insulin pump, glucose sensor and advanced algorithm running 24/7 on a mobile app. Together, the technology calculates and delivers the precise insulin dosages required by a woman before and during pregnancy.

Learn more about automated insulin delivery and the rest of the diabetes space by downloading our free Diabetes Technology Special Report.

Diabetes technology developers have been looking to address the combination of diabetes and pregnancy for a long time. Earlier this year, researchers outlined plans to study automated insulin delivery within the population. Weeks later, Tandem Diabetes Care released its own data studying its insulin pumps in the type 1 and pregnant population.

Medtronic in July won CE mark for its automated insulin delivery system in pregnant women as well. Reacting to the NHS news on LinkedIn, Que Dallara, current EVP and President of Medtronic Diabetes and CEO designate of MiniMed, said the company is “proud to be part of this momentum.”

“Thrilled to see the NHS leading with compassion and innovation—rolling out next-gen artificial pancreas technology to support pregnant women with type 1 diabetes,” Dallara wrote. “This is a powerful step toward equitable access and better outcomes.”

Partha Kar, NHS England’s type 1 diabetes technology lead, said the technology rollout represents “another example of the NHS taking action” to deliver the latest technological innovations to patients.

“The universal uptake of continuous glucose monitors by women living with type 1 diabetes was driven by NHS action on this issue in 2019 – a global first – and has led to improvements in outcomes for them,” said Kar. “It has also paved the way for yet another ‘first’ for the NHS by enabling us rollout out this specialist hybrid closed loop system.

“This ingenious – yet simple – technology is helping pregnant women living with type 1 diabetes – and those planning a pregnancy live better lives, improving maternal outcomes for them, reducing serious health complications, and making care simpler.”