Strengthening Multidisciplinary Approach to Prevent and Control Complications of Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Guidelines for strengthening diabetes management of pregnant women include contributions from multi-disciplinary health professionals. These professionals work collaboratively with pregnant women and their families and communities to prevent/control diabetes mellitus (DM) complications. The multidisciplinary approach consists of six cooperative processes: 1) A joint assessment: searching for people at risk of DM including those in childhood, adolescence, reproductive ages, and pre-pregnancy to develop proper care management for pregnant women; 2) The teams will construct shared management goals with the members and pregnant women with DM; 3) The teams will participate in planning to change behaviors: choosing the type of cooking and determining the amount of food, physical exercise, stress management, and other essential preventive behaviors; 4) Using technology or innovation for data collection in order to ease data analysis for drug dosage adjustments or behavioral adjustments; 5) Continuously following up both mothers and babies throughout the period of pregnancy and after birth: using mail or calling the mothers to ask questions, and 6) The collaborative evaluation: mainly reporting the results of health management provided for these women and designing appropriate assistance as needed.

Therefore, DM during pregnancy is an important health issue that affects the health of mothers, children, and families. Effective approaches to prevent and control the issue are necessary to formulate strategies and design services to strengthen the management of diabetes in pregnant women. Multi-disciplinary teams are formed to work collaboratively with mothers, families, and communities in order to continuously strengthen the management for pregnant women with DM.