• Ekin Dila Topaloğlu Ören, Elif Ünsal Avdal, Gökşen Polat, Funda Sofulu, Gönül Düzgün, and Gülseren Pamuk.
• Izmir Katip Celebi University Faculty of Health Science, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, İzmir, Türkiye.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2024 Apr 12; 103 (15): e37755e37755.

AbstractGestational Diabetes Mellitus is an important public health problem that often occurs during pregnancy. This study aimed to reveal the experiences of women with gestational diabetes regarding the fear of having diabetes in their babies. A qualitative research method was carried out with a phenomenological approach. The interviews had a semi-structured form and were recorded on an online/face-to-face voice recorder, and thematic content analysis was performed on the MAXQDA22. Following the inclusion criteria, 12 women with gestational diabetes from the 2 hospitals in the study were included, and in this way, the study reached saturation. As a result of the interviews, 4 main themes and one subtheme were obtained from coding. The main themes were "sugar baby," "risky child," "raising a fearful baby," and "problematic gene carrier." From the main theme of "problematic gene carrier," the subtheme of "pregnancies with problematic genes" was created. This research sheds light on the problems women with gestational diabetes experience with themselves and their babies, and how they deal with these problems. Women with gestational diabetes try to accept and cope with the diagnosis. This research shows that the women were worried about both themselves and their babies. Illuminating the experiences of women with gestational diabetes is part of an integrative care approach that will help increase quality care and treatment in endocrine clinics. More qualitative studies are needed to learn more about the experiences of women with gestational diabetes in endocrine clinics.Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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