A Postpartum Motivational Interviewing Group Intervention for Women with a History of Gestational Diabetes

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Research has shown that women with a history of gestational diabetes are at a much higher risk of getting gestational diabetes in future pregnancies and type 2 diabetes in the future than those who have not had gestational diabetes. Furthermore, these risks can be ameliorated by maintaining a healthy lifestyle i.e. regular exercise and healthy eating. Modifying lifestyle factors is often a challenging task and can take considerable time, commitment and motivation. It is therefore not surprising that patients often experience a sense of ambivalence around whether they want to make changes or not, regardless of the health benefits. Health practitioners have generally encouraged patients to make lifestyle changes through persuasive advice giving. However, the research shows that while this is an effective means of eliciting behaviour change for some patients, it does not appear to be effective for the majority of patients. Patient centred approaches to lifestyle modification (in which the patient does most of the talking and the patient and health practitioner work collaboratively) have produced more promising results. Furthermore, motivational interviewing (a patient centred approach) has shown significant effects on a range of physiological measures (including BMI) and a range of health problems e.g. diabetes and weight-related problems. In this pilot study a between groups experimental design will be used as part of a PDSA cycle to explore the efficacy of a 2-hour motivational interviewing group for women with a history of gestational diabetes. Process data will be collected in addition to outcome data on perceived risk of diabetes, motivation for change, physical activity levels, and eating habits

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