Postpartum education and lifestyle changes for preventing type 2 diabetes in Turkish women with previous gestational
Merlinda Aluş Tokat1, Muzafer Sancı2, Semra Girgeç3
1Obstetric and Gynecologic Nursing Department, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Nursing, Izmir, Turkey. merlinda_alus@yahoo.com.
Background:
Women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have at least sevenfold increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes compared with non-GDM mothers. The risk can be decreased by self-care measures.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to explore the postpartum education and lifestyle changes of Turkish women with previous GDM.
Method:
This was a retrospective descriptive epidemiological study. A total of 111 women who had given birth within the previous 3-4 years were interviewed by telephone between December 2013 and April 2014.
Results:
The 83.8% of the women with GDM had not received education related to exercise, while 40.5% received no education regarding the importance of diet. More importantly, while 68.5% had been informed about testing blood glucose levels postpartum, a large majority, 69.3%, did not know for how long they would have had to continue testing their glucose levels. However, 31.3% of those who monitored their glucose levels had glucose intolerance. In terms of lifestyle changes, less than half of the women, 48.6%, had made changes in their diet and the majority, 51.4%, were inactive.
Conclusion:
Women need access to sustained education and supportive counselling both to motivate and to minimize the risk of type 2 diabetes after GDM.
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