Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) had 7-to 10-fold higher risk of developing diabetes in later life, compared to women with healthy pregnancy. The rising trend of obesity among women at reproductive age, and obesity after pregnancy are often seen as an important determinants for diabetes, particularly for women with prior GDM. While women with GDM are recommended to undergo postpartum OGTT screening between 6-12weeks postpartum, the participation is general low (50%). The major barriers include lack of awareness of the long term health impacts and importance of postpartum diabetes screening after GDM. The increased demand from newborns and relatively short maternity leave (14 weeks) also reduce women’s willingness to attend face to face postnatal care.

Findings of our previous study in early postpartum showed that lifestyle modification programme promote weight loss, improve dietary quality and appear to promote better glycaemic control, suggesting postpartum lifestyle modification may provide an opportunity to reduce the long-term risk of diabetes in women with GDM history. The platform would provide trusted practical health information covering health topics associated with women’s respective physiological stages and offer ranges of self-administrative health assessments. The platform aims to raise individual health awareness and facilitate self-monitoring for a healthy lifestyle. The e-health platform also helps us to maximise the reach, provide flexibility for women who have difficulty to join in person.

The e-platform will help to raise the individual health awareness and understanding on the long-term risk after GDM. The self-administrated assessment provides support on self-monitoring, which helps to identify individual risk factors and to facilitate lifestyle management. We believe that the e-health platform can help to modify lifestyle and behaviour, promote weight loss and improve postpartum diabetes screening among women with GDM history. All these factors help to modulate the risk of diabetes progression and NCDs after GDM.

Women with history of GDM, or obesity, or risk factors for diabetes

(Expected number, n=150-500)

2023

Healthcare, HealthTech