The Effect of the Self-Care Program on Diet Control Behaviors and Blood Sugar among Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Sunpasitthipasong Hospital

Abstract

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a medical complications during pregnancy and has a higher tendency. GDM can have a vital effect on the pregnancy to both the mother and the fetus. Getting the blood sugar levels controlled to reduce the potential effects is necessary. This research is a quasi-experimental research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the self-care program on diet control behaviors and blood sugar among pregnant women with GDM in Sunpasitthipasong Hospital.The samples consisted of 40 pregnant women with insulin-needed (GDMA2) hospitalized during November 2016 to November 2018. They were divided into an experimental and a control group, 20 each.  The control group received routine nursing care. The experimental group received routine nursing care and the self-care program. The interventions were the GDM self-care manual and the CD containing power point slides with the lesson plan contents.  The demographic data and the diet control behavior questionnaires with the reliability by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.80, the blood sugar record form, and the phone advice record form were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using independent-test.

The results revealed that after the program in the experimental group, compared to the control group, the statistic score of diet control behaviors was significantly higher  (p = 0.006), and fasting blood sugar was statistically significantly decreased better (p = 0.030). However, the Hemoglobin A1c levels between two groups were not different. The findings suggested that the self-care program can be applied to other pregnant women with GDM.  Self-care practice with proper diet control behaviors would help reduce their blood sugar levels.