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 Background & Objectives: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is defined as carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity with onset or first recognition during the pregnancy. Diagnosis of this disorder can prevent complications in mother and her fetus during pregnancy. This study was an attempt to determine GDM prevalence in pregnant women referring to Ardabil health centers.

 Methods: In this cross-sectional study 601 pregnant women with 24-28 weeks of gestational age were screened by glucose challenge test (GCT) using 50 gr of oral glucose. GCT was considered positive if the serum level of glucose was larger than or equal to 140 mg/dl. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) was done on GCT⁺ subjects with 100 gr oral glucose. The diagnostic criteria were these of National Diabetes Data Group.

 Also a questionnaire was used to record history, age, height, blood pressure, weight before pregnancy and other characteristics. The data were analyzed using SPSS software.

 Results: From 601 pregnant women, 64 cases (10.6%) were GCT⁺. OGTT indicated that from these 64 cases, 8 cases had GDM (GCT ⁺, OGTT⁺). GDM prevalence was estimated 1.3%. There was a statistically significant relationship between BMI, mean age and mean diastolic blood pressure on the one hand and GCT and GDM positivity on the other (p<0.05). There was a significant relationship between increasing of BMI and the prevalence of GDM positivity GCT (p<0.05), but the relation was not significant between increasing of systolic blood pressure and gravidity with prevalence of GDM and positive GCT.

 Conclusion: It seems that the prevalence of GDM in Ardabil is low and general screening is not necessary for all pregnant women. The prevalence of GDM showed an increase with the age of pregnant women, BMI and obesity.

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Background & objectives: Gestational diabetes is one of the most common medical problems during pregnancy, which has many negative consequences for mother and fetus. Knowledge of women about gestational diabetes and educational planning based on needs assessment can be effective for early diagnosis and reduction of possible complications of gestational diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the educational needs of diabetic pregnant mothers in Meshgin health centers in 2018.
Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted by- census on 689 pregnant women referring to Meshgin health centers in the spring and summer of 2018. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire of Hashemi-Beni and colleagues (2015) including three parts: demographic information, knowledge and educational needs assessment for mothers with gestational diabetes. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software.
Results: The mean age of pregnant women participating in the study was 26.94±6.22 years, with an average gestational age of 24.36±9.18 weeks. 22 persons of 689 pregnant women were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and the prevalence of gestational diabetes was 3.2%. The mean score of knowledge of diabetic pregnant mothers about gestational diabetes questions was 9.95±3.79 out of 13. In all items of gestational diabetes, at least one third of diabetic mothers reported need for education.
Conclusions: Diabetic pregnant mothers, despite of high knowledge about gestational diabetes, still need to be trained in this regard. Therefore, it is necessary to hold leveled training courses to complete the information of mothers for better care of themselves