Factors promoting diabetes self-care among low-income, minority pregnant women

Objective: To prospectively identify factors promoting healthy self-management of gestational and type 2 diabetes mellitus among underserved pregnant women. Study design: Twenty-nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews were performed over the course of pregnancy for 10 women with diabetes. Interviews on factors promoting diabetes self-management used cognitive load theory to frame questions. Qualitative analysis of longitudinal interview data applied grounded theory techniques to generate themes. Result: Half this cohort of minority, low-income, public aid-supported women had type 2 diabetes. Four themes, comprised of both internal self-driven motivators and external sources of support, were identified. These themes were: (1) disease familiarity and diabetes self-efficacy; (2) external motivation (for health of fetus and responsibilities to older children); (3) supportive social and physical environment; and (4) self-regulatory behavior, including goal responsiveness and long-term goal-setting. Conclusion: Low-income women used multiple internal and external resources to promote health during a pregnancy complicated by diabetes. Successful behavior modification and achievement of diabetes care goals require leveraging these resources.