Table 2.

Meaning unit, condensations, subthemes included in the first theme (being stricken by GDM)

Meaning unit	Condensation	Subtheme
‘I felt that it was a shock when I knew I got GDM because GDM is a disease. I never never thought I would get the disease … I couldn’t accept it in my heart at the beginning.’ (Participant 55)	Shock	Experiencing different emotional reactions
‘At that moment when I was suddenly informed diabetes … May be … I thought that this was a kind of deviation from the blood test … an error.’ (Participant 8)	Doubt the diagnosis of GDM
‘I felt very strange at that moment because I didn’t have the concept (of GDM) and didn’t know what GDM was. My husband also felt very strange. He said, “Hey, how is pregnancy going with diabetes?” He felt very strange.’ (Participant 9)	Feel surprised and strange
‘I hoped in my heart that I didn’t get GDM. I would rather to believe other people’s words such as “You didn’t get”, “Doesn’t matter” … If I denied it, I would feel relieved.’ (Participant 49)	Deny
‘I feared in my heart. Whether GDM would influence my baby if I couldn’t control well?! Whether GDM would influence me?! I almost cried at that time. How could I get GDM? My family doesn’t have the problem. Why I suddenly got it?! … I was scared.’ (Participant 30)	Fear
‘When I saw the value was over the normal range, I thought, “Bad! How do I get GDM?” I had seen the flyers of GDM. GDM may cause some symptoms such as premature birth. I was worried about it. I also heard about the pills and treatments if diabetes was severe. I did be worried about it.’ (Participant 7)	Worry
‘People always say that it is good to eat fruits, so I ate a big volume of fruits every day. I ate five–six kinds of fruits per day. … Moreover, I very like to eat sweet potatoes. Maybe they are the factors that made me get GDM.’ (Participant 18)	Reflect the reasons of getting GDM

GDM, gestational diabetes mellitus.