Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

Diabetes in pregnancy has received little attention in developing countries despite contributing to maternal mortality and morbidity. Many studies have focused on epidemiological aspects of diabetes in the general population and very few have looked at the impact of diabetes in pregnancy in affected women. The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of diabetes in pregnancy in pregnant women. Diabetes in pregnancy referred to pre-gestational type I, pre-gestational type II and gestational diabetes mellitus. The study utilized a descriptive qualitative design. Four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), each with 7 participants, were held at a central hospital in Zimbabwe. Inclusion criteria were women with a diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy, age from 18 to 49 years and ability to speak Shona or English. Approval was obtained from respective ethical review boards. FGDs which were audiotaped followed a semi-structured questionnaire while detailed notes were taken during the interviews. Thematic analysis was done manually. Findings revealed that diabetes in pregnancy has a multifaceted impact in women. Themes identified were the impact on health, socio-economic issues and the psychological burden of diabetes in pregnancy. There is need for comprehensive collaborative care of women with diabetes in pregnancy in view of the multi-faceted nature of both the disease and its subjective impact on affected individuals. Recent Publications 1. Mukona D, Munjanja S P, Zvinavashe M and Stray-Pederson B (2017) Association between adherence to anti-diabetic therapy and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes in diabetes in pregnancy. Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa; DOI: 10.1080/16089677.2018.1465247. 2. Mukona D, Munjanja S P, Zvinavashe M and Stray-Pederson B (2017) Adherence to anti-diabetic therapy in women with diabetes in pregnancy. International Journal of Diabetes and its Complications; 1(4): 1-6.

Biography

Doreen Macherera Mukona is a Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences. She is an experienced University Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. She has skilled in clinical research, curriculum development, program evaluation and strategic planning. She has completed her PhD in Midwifery and the title of her thesis was the development of an adherence promotion framework to improve adherence to anti-diabetic therapy and perinatal outcomes in pregnant women. She has published a number of papers from the study. She has also developed a framework for care of women with diabetes in pregnancy to ensure comprehensive care. This study was part of her PhD in Midwifery.

E-mail: dmacherera@yahoo.co.uk