Project Completion Date: June 30, 2024

Project Contact: Alina Alesu

The Postpartum Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) project aimed to explore what provisions could be put in place to bridge the care gap for patients receiving specialized pre-natal GDM multi-disciplinary support at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre (JPOCSC) and transitioning back to a primary care provider for postpartum prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

There is a need to support women with GDM after birth in understanding the factors associated with increased risk of developing diabetes, to encourage them to optimize diet and lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes postpartum, and to help them and their families stay healthy.

This project focused on the South Asian population in Surrey-North Delta, which is the largest ethnic group attending the JPOCSC Diabetes and Pregnancy clinic. For this population, we wanted to develop culturally specific recommendations for awareness and prevention of diabetes.

Project Activities:

1. A thorough needs assessment of Family Physicians and patients in the Surrey-North Delta community was conducted, with a special focus on the high-risk South Asian population. This included both a provider and patient survey.
2. Creation of a post-partum patient discharge letter/OGTT reminder that was implemented at the DIP Clinic.
3. Development, integration, and promotion of a GDM-specific stream of both English and Punjabi messages to the SmartParent Program.