Gestational diabetes & diabetes in pregnancy
Exploring the social experiences, stigma and discrimination, faced by women with gestational diabetes: A collaborative qualitative study and item‐pool development
Authors' conclusion
Findings provide rich insights into the experiences and impacts of stigma among women with GDM in Australia and resulted in a co-designed GDM-specific stigma item pool. The item pool is ready for psychometric assessment and item reduction, which will enable future quantification of the occurrence, impacts and mechanisms of GDM-specific stigma.
Study context
- Population
- Australian women with current or recent GDM10 in Phase 2
- Participants
- 20 women
- Outcome
- Experiences of GDM-specific stigma
Methodological detailscollaborative, two-phase, semi-structured online interviews, reflexive thematic analysis, cognitive debriefing, GDM Lived Experience Advisory Group (G-LEAG; n = 4) informed all aspects of the research
- Collaborative
- Two-phase
- Semi-structured online interviews
- Reflexive thematic analysis
- Cognitive debriefing
- GDM Lived Experience Advisory Group (G-LEAG; n = 4) informed all aspects of the research
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- All participants perceived, experienced, anticipated and/or internalised GDM-specific stigma
- Stigma perceived as driven by stereotypes and blame; facilitated by societal norms on motherhood and pregnancy, media messaging, and inflexible, inconsistent healthcare policies
- Social, emotional and self care impacts, and perceived loss of autonomy in clinical care
- Proposed protective mechanisms: social and healthcare support, self-belief and self-compassion, community awareness
Further findings
Item-pool development (cognitive debriefing)
- Draft items comprehensively covered women's experiences of GDM-specific stigma; refined to an item pool
- 74 items
Original publication
Exploring the social experiences, stigma and discrimination, faced by women with gestational diabetes: A collaborative qualitative study and item‐pool development. Diabet Med. Published 23 May 2025. doi:10.
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