New gestational diabetes care empowering our community

Did you know that gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the fastest growing type of diabetes in Australia? According to Diabetes Australia (2020) the number of women diagnosed annually has more than doubled over the past decade.

This is a trend our team at Mater Mothers’ Hospital’s antenatal clinic are seeing too, with a rapidly growing number of women requiring specialist care for diabetes in pregnancy.

This week we’re recognising Dietitians Week, and the valuable support they offer to expectant mothers during their gestational diabetes treatment too.

Obstetric Medicine Specialist, Dr Jo Laurie has been working with the antenatal clinic to develop a new approach to care for expectant mothers with GDM.

With the dedication and hard work of the diabetes team, and nutrition programs provided by our expert dietitians, she has seen great success over the last few months.

Last year, Mater Mothers’ Hospital partnered with Redland Hospital and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO to trial the new M♡THer platform—a smartphone app designed to help patients better manage and track their condition at home.

“The combination of this fantastic new app, along with translated educational resources and videos, allows us to better care for all women under our service—we can offer dietary advice and encouragement each step of the way,” Dr Laurie said.

“We’ve seen an increase from 60 per cent to 90 per cent engagement in using the M♡ther platform, and many women have let us know that they find the instant messaging from our team encouraging,” she said.

Because the app allows for instant updates and text messaging mean, our in-hospital teams now have access to the most up to date blood glucose information available, directly from the patient at home.

“Providing women with the support they need from their own mobile device is just another way that we are taking the clinical care and expertise at Mater Mothers’ Hospital beyond our hospital walls”.