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 mental load of type 1 diabetes. From tracking glucose trends and midnight alarms to translating medical language into family life, the invisible labour of diabetes care often sits heavily on women’s shoulders.
But this episode goes beyond motherhood.
It honours every woman living with diabetes: navigating hormones, work, relationships, pregnancy, and everyday life while managing a condition that requires constant vigilance. It also recognises the partners, sisters, grandmothers, healthcare professionals and advocates who quietly sustain others through the daily realities of diabetes.
With warmth, humour and honesty, Catherine reflects on the invisible load, the resilience, the community that forms between women in diabetes, and the quiet strength that makes extraordinary effort look completely ordinary.
This episode is both recognition and permission: recognition for the immense work women do every day, and permission to acknowledge that carrying diabetes: whether personally or within a family is both powerful and exhausting.
A tribute.
A moment of solidarity.
And a reminder that none of us carry this alone.
","author_name":"Catherine Showler"}