Table 3.
Meaning unit, condensations, subthemes included in the second theme (wishing to receive caring GDM care)
| Meaning unit | Condensation | Sub-theme |
| ‘I consulted doctor …’ (Participant 25) | Seek help from health professionals | Seeking help |
| ‘I consulted some friends who work in hospital … I searched on the internet … I was a little nervous, so I called my mother.’ (Participant 25) | Seek help from the popular sector | |
| ‘When I don’t want to insist on (GDM regime), I will visit my doctor. I often go to do antenatal care. My doctor will encourage me, “Why did you not test? How can you eat the milk tea? (The milk tea contains much sugar)” I often talk with her. I am encouraged by her. ‘ (Participant 45) | Perceive support from health professionals | Perceiving the importance of the support from health professionals and husbands |
| ‘After my husband knew my illness, he pays more attention to diet. Sometimes I very want to have a taste on something such as ice cream or cake, but he doesn’t let me eat … He pays more attention to my illness than me. He urges me to do exercise … At least, it shows that he cares about me.’ (Participant 16) | Perceive support from husbands | |
| ‘The obstetric doctor just said “Observation”. I asked “How do I observe?” She just said “Come and check OGTT again after a period” … The doctor still said “Observation” after the second Oral Glocose Tolerance Test… She at most said, “Pay more attention to your life style, your diet, and your exercise.” I cannot feel they care about me. ‘ (Participant 4) | Perceive insufficient care of GDM from health professionals | Perceiving lack of caring GDM care from professionals |
| ‘It seems that the reference values of GDM are different at different hospitals. The volume of the glucose powder used for OGTT test is also different at different hospitals … But the normal range of the blood glucose was the same at the two hospitals. I thought that maybe something was wrong, so I searched it in internet. There were many different kinds of answers about it in internet. I could not understand.’ (Participant 60) | Perceive inconsistent information about GDM |
GDM, gestational diabetes mellitus.