Based in Sweden, AnnaPS is a company that addresses the practicalities of wearing an insulin pump and adds to it a bit of fashion sense. Anna Sjoberg, a qualified engineer, was diagnosed with Type 1 in 1998 and has been on a pump since 2009. Facing a life with a pump as a permanent partner, she looked to find solutions for easily wearing a diabetes device.
Working with her is Sofia Larsson, who was diagnosed in 2008 at the age of 15 and went straight on an inulin pump. She was in hospital for two weeks and came out wanting to make diabetes ‘cool’. Now studying architecture, she took a sabbatical to work with AnnaPS to help with social media content to increase awareness of the AnnaPS product range.
The clothing range, which has plenty to choose from for men, women and children, is designed with pump pockets in a variety of discreet but accessible places. With pockets on both sides, you can have a pump in one and carry something else in the other, such as a FreeStyle Libre reader or even a packet of Dextrose tablets. Pockets on both sides also means you can wear a pump on different sides of you body as you are meant to rotate the sites of your infusion sets. The clothes are made of Tencel, which feels like cotton but is strong and slightly slinky, like silk. As well as tank tops, t-shirts and even shorts that have pump pockets, there’s also arm bands, a sports bra and bikini.
Larsson explains, “The aim was to make sure the pump would be accessible, but that we’d try to reduce the ‘wedge’ that it can create in clothing. We wanted the pumps to be in neutral spaces. There are bra holders already available but not everyone wants to start digging around in that area to get their pump out. We looked at placing pumps near the waist or on the inner thigh. For children, the tank tops keep the pump safe but also strapped down.”
On the AnnaPS site, there’s advice on how to wear a pump, including on the beach as well as other contributions from their brand ambassadors and bloggers.
Sofia Larsson-Stern can be seen at www.diabetesia.se
This news item first appeared in Desang Diabetes Magazine, our free-to-receive digital journal. We cover diabetes news, diabetes management equipment (diabetes kit) and news about food suitable for a diabetic diet. Go to the top of this page to sign up – we just need your email address.