Women's experiences of gestational diabetes self-management: A qualitative study

A qualitative study exploring women's health behaviours after a pregnancy with gestational diabetes to inform the development of a diabetes prevention strategy

“…GDM management involves an intensive approach of reducing blood glucose to improve pregnancy outcomes, requiring women to make rapid and radical behavioural changes including reducing or altering carbohydrate consumption, increasing physical activity, monitoring blood glucose, and taking diabetes medications [7][8][9]. Previous studies have shown that while most women with GDM are motivated to adopt these behaviours in pregnancy for the benefit of their unborn child [10][11][12], the motivation to sustain positive lifestyle behaviours after birth is often lost [11,13]. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence women's behaviours during and after GDM may help inform more targeted diabetes prevention interventions for this population.…”

Views, experience and adherence among pregnant women with gestational diabetes participating in a weight loss study (WELLBABE)

“…Previous studies reporting the experiences of women diagnosed with GDM report similar findings to our results. Women have talked about the ‘shock’ of GDM diagnosis , about coming to terms with the diagnosis and the steep learning curve to becoming skilled in self‐management of their blood sugar . The health and wellbeing of the baby is often cited as the main motivator to achieving self‐management, making women more receptive to information and interventions designed to maximize blood sugar control .…”

“…Women have talked about the 'shock' of GDM diagnosis [9,15], about coming to terms with the diagnosis and the steep learning curve to becoming skilled in self-management of their blood sugar [15,16]. The health and wellbeing of the baby is often cited as the main motivator to achieving selfmanagement, making women more receptive to information and interventions designed to maximize blood sugar control [9,15,17,18]. Previously cited barriers to self-management have included physical and social constraints, and lack of understanding or awareness of the potential consequences of the condition [16,17].…”

Lessons learned from lifestyle prevention trials in gestational diabetes mellitus

“…Outside pregnancy, lifestyle changes can delay Type 2 diabetes in those with impaired glucose tolerance, including those with past GDM [32,33]. It is reported that concern for offspring well-being motivates women to make positive changes during pregnancy, so such lifestyle trials should be 'easier' at this time [34]. The potential for GDM prevention during pregnancy is supported by observational studies that have associated physical activity [35,36], less gestational weight gain [37] and adherence to modified diets with decreased risk for GDM [38].…”