Ep. 10 What are the motivators for Mums after GDM?

Ep. 10 What are the motivators for Mums after GDM?

In this episode Jaimee explores what actually helps mums who have had gestational diabetes engage with their long-term health after pregnancy. Drawing on a postgraduate thematic analysis of qualitative research and over 15 years of clinical experience as a Credentialled Diabetes Educator, this episode examines the facilitators to postpartum type 2 diabetes screening and prevention — the things that make a real difference when women are supported well after a GDM pregnancy. Four key facilitators/motivators are discussed:  1. The critical role of knowledge and education about the GDM and type 2 diabetes link;  2. How maternal identity can shift from a barrier into a powerful motivator for preventative health;  3. The importance of individualised, person-centred care delivered with trust and without judgment;  4. Continuity of care through the postpartum period as a system-level facilitator for long-term engagement. Jaimee draws on findings from her postgraduate thematic analysis, which included peer-reviewed qualitative research by Brown et al. (2022), Cronin et al. (2023), Dennison et al. (2022), Gunn et al. (2020), Horn et al. (2023), Ioannou et al. (2024), Kent-Marvick et al. (2024), Krompa et al. (2020), Lake et al. (2023), Lucas et al. (2022), Nedergaard et al. (2023), and Sushko et al. (2024), alongside her own clinical experience supporting women after GDM in practice. Who this episode is for: This episode is relevant for mums who have had GDM and want to understand what support looks like when it works well, and for healthcare professionals seeking to better understand what women need from postpartum care after a GDM pregnancy. For general education only. Please speak with your healthcare provider for personalised advice. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. General education only — speak with your healthcare provider about what's right for you Whether you're newly postpartum, years past your GDM diagnosis, or supporting someone who's been through this experience, this podcast is for you. Let's create healthy futures together! Please also follow our FB page &/or Instagram.  If you could also rate and follow the podcast on your favourite app, we can support more women on this journey. Because knowledge + community = empowerment. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr Learn more about Healthy Futures Individual Insight Program here: https://healthyfuturesaftergdmaustralia.systeme.io/   https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Ep. 9 Introducing Tash Rae: Accredited Practising Dietitian & Credentialled Diabetes Educator

In this episode, Jaimee is joined by Tash Rae — Accredited Practising Dietitian and Credentialled Diabetes Educator — for a first conversation about her background, her work in women's health, and what brought her to focus on care after a gestational diabetes (GDM) diagnosis. Tash shares what drew her to this area of practice, what she sees often in her clinical work that she wishes more women understood, and how she and Jaimee work together to support mums after GDM. They also talk about why this partnership matters for the future of the podcast — and what listeners can expect from Tash's voice in upcoming episodes. This is a relaxed, conversational introduction rather than a deep-dive episode — the first of many with Tash on board. Whether you're newly postpartum, years past your GDM diagnosis, or supporting someone who's been through this experience, this podcast is for you. Let's create healthy futures together! Please also follow our FB page &/or Instagram.  If you could also rate and follow the podcast on your favourite app, we can support more women on this journey. Because knowledge + community = empowerment. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr Learn more about Healthy Futures Individual Insight Program here: https://healthyfuturesaftergdmaustralia.systeme.io/ (option to book discovery call via the link above) Healthy Futures After GDM is for general education only. Please speak with your healthcare provider for personalised advice. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Ep. 8 The REAL barriers to screening for type 2 diabetes after GDM

If you've ever wondered why so many mums who've had GDM don't get tested after birth, or why engaging with ongoing care feels so hard — this episode is for you. And the answer isn't what most people assume. It's not a lack of caring. It's not laziness. The barriers are real, they are well-documented in the research, and they are specific to this season of life in a way that is important to understand. In this episode, Jaimee — credentialled diabetes educator, registered nurse, and nurse practitioner (in progress) — walks through the five barriers she sees most consistently in her clinical work and in the literature on post-GDM care. What we cover in this episode: 1. The system doesn't follow up The postpartum testing recommendations after GDM are clear — a glucose tolerance test at six to twelve weeks, and annual testing ongoing. But in practice, the handover between obstetric and primary care is often incomplete, and women are sent home without an explicit plan. When the system doesn't follow up, women don't know to follow up on themselves. 2. The fog of new motherhood A fasting glucose tolerance test requires nothing to eat or drink from the night before, a trip to pathology, and two hours of sitting and waiting — often with a baby in tow. Research consistently shows postpartum testing rates after GDM are well below fifty percent, and logistics and competing demands are among the most commonly cited reasons. It's not apathy. It's capacity. 3. "It was just a pregnancy thing" If no one has explicitly told a woman otherwise, it is completely reasonable for her to conclude that her risk ended when her pregnancy did. This is a health literacy and communication barrier — and it sits with the system, not the individual. 4. Putting themselves last There is something that happens to many women when they become mothers. Their own health moves to the bottom of the list — not because they don't value it, but because everyone else's needs feel more immediate. In this episode, Jaimee gently challenges the idea that your health can wait — and explains why your metabolic health and your family's wellbeing are not as separate as they might feel right now. 5. Cost and access Some of the most useful testing after GDM — including fasting insulin to assess insulin resistance — is not Medicare rebatable in Australia. Continuous glucose monitoring remains an out-of-pocket expense for most women after GDM. Programs that offer personalised support often cost money. This barrier is real, it is inequitable, and it deserves to be named plainly. Who this episode is for: Mums who've had GDM who have found themselves putting their own health on the backburner. Women who weren't sure why follow-up felt so hard. Healthcare providers who want to better understand why their patients aren't coming back for testing. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. General education only — speak with your healthcare provider about what's right for you Whether you're newly postpartum, years past your GDM diagnosis, or supporting someone who's been through this experience, this podcast is for you. Let's create healthy futures together! Please also follow our FB page &/or Instagram.  If you could also rate and follow the podcast on your favourite app, we can support more women on this journey. Because knowledge + community = empowerment. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr Learn more about Healthy Futures Individual Insight Program here: https://healthyfuturesaftergdmaustralia.systeme.io/ (option to book discovery call via the link above) https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Ep. 7 The silence of prediabetes & type 2 diabetes

Most mums who've had GDM reach the same conclusion after their baby arrives: I feel fine, so I probably am. And honestly? That conclusion makes complete sense — especially when you're sleep-deprived, keeping a small human alive, and no one from the healthcare system is checking in anymore. But here's what the research tells us: prediabetes and the lead-up to Type 2 diabetes are largely silent. Your glucose levels can be creeping up for years before you feel a thing. Your body works harder and harder to compensate — and you have no idea it's happening. In this episode, Jaimee breaks down three patterns she sees repeatedly in her clinical work — patterns that map directly onto what the research describes — and explains why feeling fine is not the same as being metabolically well. She also unpacks why simply telling women the statistics isn't enough, why personalised metabolic data changes everything, and why your health and your child's health are not as separate as they might feel right now. Because GDM wasn't just a pregnancy complication. It was a metabolic stress test — and what it revealed doesn't disappear when the placenta does. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. General education only — speak with your healthcare provider about what's right for you Whether you're newly postpartum, years past your GDM diagnosis, or supporting someone who's been through this experience, this podcast is for you. Let's create healthy futures together! Please also follow our FB page &/or Instagram.  If you could also rate and follow the podcast on your favourite app, we can support more women on this journey. Because knowledge + community = empowerment. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr Learn more about Healthy Futures Individual Insight Program here: https://healthyfuturesaftergdmaustralia.systeme.io/ (option to book discovery call via the link above) Links mentioned in this podcast: Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2021–2030 | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing [https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/australian-national-diabetes-strategy-2021-2030?language=en] https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Ep. 6 The feeling of abandonment after GDM is valid!

After your baby arrives, the appointments stop, the check-ins stop, and suddenly you're on your own — with a newborn and a future health risk nobody is really following up on. In this episode I'm talking about something that comes up consistently in research on women's experiences after GDM: abandonment. It's not a dramatic word — it's the word women themselves use. I unpack what the research tells us, why this gap exists, what it means for your long-term health, and why improving support for women after GDM is actually a recognised priority in Australia's National Diabetes Strategy. You deserved better follow-up than you got. Let's talk about it. Whether you're newly postpartum, years past your GDM diagnosis, or supporting someone who's been through this experience, this podcast is for you. Let's create healthy futures together! Please also follow our FB page &/or Instagram.  If you could also rate and follow the podcast on your favourite app, we can support more women on this journey. Because knowledge + community = empowerment. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr Learn more about Healthy Futures Individual Insight Program here: https://healthyfuturesaftergdmaustralia.systeme.io/ (option to book discovery call via the link above) Links mentioned in this podcast: Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2021–2030 | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing [https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/australian-national-diabetes-strategy-2021-2030?language=en] https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A9qQyBD1f/?mibextid=wwXIfr