Women’s experience with receiving advice on diet and Self-Monitoring of blood glucose for gestational diabetes mellitus: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore how women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) experience advice about diet and self-monitoring of blood glucose received in primary health care (PHC) and secondary health care (SHC) with a focus on how women perceived the care coordination and collaboration between healthcare professionals. DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Individual interviews were conducted with 12 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM. Six women had immigrant backgrounds, and six were ethnic Norwegian. Women received GDM care in the area of Oslo, Norway. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Women described feeling shocked when they were diagnosed with GDM and feeling an immediate need for information about the consequences and management of GDM. Most of the women felt that their general practitioner (GP) had too little knowledge about GDM. Women with an immigrant background felt that the PHC midwives provided them with sufficient dietary advice related to GDM. Ethnic Norwegian women appreciated receiving more individually tailored dietary advice in SHC. Self-monitoring of blood glucose influenced women’s daily lives; however, they perceived the training in PHC and SHC as adequate. The women experienced poor collaboration between healthcare professionals in PHC and SHC, which implied that they sometimes had to initiate follow-up steps in their GDM care by themselves. CONCLUSIONS: Ideally, women diagnosed with GDM should meet healthcare professionals with sufficient knowledge about GDM as soon as possible after being diagnosed. The collaboration between healthcare professionals involved in the care of women with GDM should be improved to avoid having women feel that they need to coordinate their own care. KEY POINTS: Current awareness; •The management of gestational diabetes mellitus requires appropriate follow-up by healthcare professionals. Main statements; •Pregnant women’s need for information about the consequences and management of gestational diabetes mellitus was highest immediately after diagnosis; •Women perceived that they received more individually tailored information about diet and self-monitoring of blood glucose in secondary health care compared to primary health care; •Women felt that general practitioners had insufficient knowledge about gestational diabetes mellitus; •Based on our results, care coordination and collaboration between healthcare professionals involved in the care of women with gestational diabetes mellitus should be improved.