abstract
Objective: to explore pregnant women's experiences with the recently implemented screening for
gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Design: qualitative study.
Setting: Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan region, Germany.
Participants: 20 pregnant women aged 27–41 years (mean: 32.6 years) who were at least in gestational
week 29, i.e., those who should have already been screened for GDM.
Measurements and findings: semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted via
telephone between November 2013 and February 2014. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed
verbatim and subsequently analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. The
screening was seen as an important instrument to detect GDM and thus to prevent possible health
problems in both mother and child. Some deviations from the recommended screening procedure were
reported in the interviews, e.g., collecting capillary blood instead of venous blood during an oral glucose
tolerance test (OGTT); offering an OGTT without a prior glucose challenge test (GCT); conducting a GCT
after an overnight fast. Two women had to actively ask for the screening to be done. One woman
reported that her gynaecologist advised her against the screening.
Conclusion and implication for practice: this qualitative study reflects the women's experiences with the
new screening for GDM. Our findings show that two years after the introduction of universal GDM
screening in Germany the screening procedure does not always seem to meet the standards of the
German maternity guidelines.
&