Experiences of women with gestational diabetes in using social media for self-care: A qualitative study in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Aims: The present study aimed to explore the use and experience of social media to improve self-managed health care of women with GDM in Northern Vietnam. Materials and methods: A qualitative study was carried out among 21 pregnant women with GDM aged between 20 and 47 years in Thai Binh province, Northern Vietnam. We conducted in- depth open-ended interviews from April to May 2023. Data were simultaneously analyzed as they were being collected, using the content analysis approach. Results: Five types of social media support were used by women with GDM in self-care includ- ing Facebook, TikTok, Zalo, Google searches, and mobile health apps. These social media were used by the pregnant women with GDM to search for information, to receive advice, or to share knowledge about diet, exercise, and control blood sugar. Conclusions: This study found that women with GDM were eager users of social media, relying strongly on social media information for pregnancy self-care. This points to the need for access to high-quality social media-based information about GDM among women in northern Vietnam.