The Development Guidelines for Diabetes Screening in Pregnant Women, Antenatal Care Department, Chaiyaphum Hospital

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a guideline for diabetes screening in pregnant women in antenatal care department of Chaiyaphum Hospital. The study was divided into 4 phases: 1) clinical problem identification based on the study of medical records and group discussions: This phase led to prevalence and risk factors of diabetes in pregnant women; 2) empirical data search through various methods and sources. In this phase, credibility level was assessed. Information obtained were analyzed and synthesized for an overview along with the integration of new knowledge, clinical findings, and hospital’s contexts to develop guidelines for diabetes screening in pregnant women. The guideline was consisted of screening risk groups for gestational diabetes and ongoing follow-up and advices; 3) implementation and evaluation with pregnant women with risk factors by comparing differences in weight gain according to the criteria of the samples, during the pre-experiment, post-experiment, and follow-up using Wilcoxon signed rank test, yielding significant differences at p=0.05; and 4) implementation of the guideline for pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes with first antenatal care and the gestational age of not over 28 weeks (29 cases). They received advices on proper diets and exercises after one week and following up at the gestational age of 24 weeks. It was found that the samples gained weight according to the standard weight of not more than 0.5 kg per week (37.93%) and their sugar levels in the urine were not detected (100%).