Impact of Behaviour Change Communication on Immediate Complications of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Quasi-Experimental Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51957/Healthline_834_2026Keywords:
Behaviour Change Communication, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Maternal complications, Neonatal complications, Blood Sugar Level, Antenatal CareAbstract
Introduction: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is an emerging public health concern in India and is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) is a costeffective strategy that can promote healthy behaviours and improve pregnancy outcomes among women with GDM. This study aims to assess the impact of BCC on immediate maternal and neonatal complications of GDM among antenatal women. Material and Methods: A single-centre, prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching institute in a metropolitan city. Systematic enrolment of 220 antenatal women diagnosed with GDM between 24–28 weeks of gestation was carried out from a sampling frame of 285 GDM-positive clinic attendees. Participants were allocated to an intervention group (Group A, n=110) and a control group (Group B, n=110) using a structured alternate-day systematic pseudo-randomisation method. Group A received structured health education through BCC, while Group B received routine antenatal care. Participants were followed up during late pregnancy and up to six weeks postpartum. Results: The proportion of women who did not experience immediate maternal complications was significantly higher in Group-A (61.79%) than in Group-B (20.68%) (p<0.05). A significantly greater reduction in post-prandial blood glucose levels was observed in the intervention group (p<0.05). Neonatal complications were numerically lower in Group A, though the overall difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: BCC significantly reduced immediate maternal complications and improved glycaemic control among women with GDM. Incorporating BCC into routine antenatal services may help reduce GDM-related morbidity.
References
1.Hod M, Kapur A, Sacks DA, Hadar E, Agarwal M, Di Renzo GC, Roura LC, McIntyre HD, Morris JL, Divakar H. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Initiative on gestational diabetes mellitus: A pragmatic guide for diagnosis, management, and care#. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 2015 Oct;131:S173-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7292(15)30007-2
2. Rohini HN, Punita P, Santhekadur PK, Ravishankar MV. Gestational diabetes mellitus–The modern Indian perspective. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2023 Sep 1;27(5):387-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijem.ijem_147_23
3. Seshiah V, Das AK, Balaji V, Joshi SR, Parikh MN, Gupta S. Gestational diabetes mellitus-guidelines. JAPI. 2006 Aug;54:622.
4. Federation ID. IDF diabetes atlas 10th. 2021-12-06)[2024-11-18]. https://diabetesatlas. org/. html. 2021.
5. Nancy S, Dongre AR. Behavior change communication: Past, present, and future. Indian J Community Med. 2021 Apr–Jun;46(2):186–190. doi: 10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_441_20. Epub 2021 May 29. PMID: 34321723; PMCID: PMC8281832.
6. Sharifat R, Borazjani F, Araban M, Pakpour AH, Angali KA, Aiiashi S. Nutritional education on health beliefs, metabolic profiles, and quality of life among high-risk pregnant women for gestational diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled trial. Scientific reports. 2024 Nov 12;14(1):27712. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78447-7
7. Far MA, Ziaei S, Kazemnejad A. The impact of maternal age, prepregnancy body mass index, weight gain and parity on glucose challenge test (GCT). International journal of fertility & sterility. 2012 Mar 20;5(4):207.
8. He R, Lei Q, Hu H, Li H, Tian D, Lai Z. The effect of health education combined with personalized psychological nursing intervention on pregnancy outcome of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus. BioMed Research International. 2022;2022(1):3157986. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3157986
9. Akter H, Akter T, Kulsum U, Parveen M. Perinatal complications in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Bangladesh J Obstet Gynaecol. 2018;33(1):5-12.
10. Rengarajan VN, Punithavathi J, Selvarasu LD. Impact of GDM on maternal and perinatal outcomes. Indian J Obstet Gynecol Res. 2025;12(4):693-698. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijogr.80922.1763454217
11. Kumari R, Dalal V, Kachhawa G, Sahoo I, Khadgawat R, Mahey R, et al. Maternal and perinatal outcome in gestational diabetes mellitus in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2018;22(1):116–120. doi:10.4103/ijem.IJEM_582_17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijem.IJEM_582_17
12. Kwik M, Seeho SKM, Smith C, McElduff A, Morris JM. Outcomes of pregnancies affected by impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2007;77(2):263–268. doi:10.1016/j.diabres. 2006.12.004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2006.12.004
13. HAPO Study Cooperative Research Group. Hyperglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcome (HAPO) study: associations with neonatal anthropometrics. Diabetes. 2009;58(2):453–459. doi: 10.2337/db08-1112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/db08-1112
14. Abu-Heija AT, Al-Bash M, Mathew M. Gestational and pregestational diabetes mellitus in Omani women: comparison of obstetric and perinatal outcomes. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2015;15(4):e496–e500. doi:10.18295/squmj.2015.15.04.009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2015.15.04.009
15. Patel M, Singh M, Sachan P, Sachan R. Outcome in gestational diabetes mellitus after various treatment modality: a tertiary center experience
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Pooja Dhutraj, Sujata Shirish Pol, Dhanashree V. Khade (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Articles in "Healthline Journal" are Open Access articles. The license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work and source is properly cited, and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
How to Cite
