From Diagnosis to Home Management: Nutritional Considerations for Women With Gestational Diabetes

Abstract

Each year 90,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The transition from diagnosis to home management is a time of high stress for these women. Anxiety may lead to difficulty with self-care in general and the diabetic diet in particular. Follow-up education by a diabetes educator can help clients plan meals that comply with the nutritional meal plan without disrupting the family's eating habits. The client should be taught to measure portions, to recognize sugar as an ingredient in foods and medicines, and to deal with special occasions such as holiday meals, travel, and illness. If extended home care is not feasible, the creative diabetes educator will devise other educational opportunities, such as home videos, telephone support networks, special childbirth classes for women with gestational diabetes, and luncheon meetings at which nutritionally correct meals are served.