Using a qualitative and Kaupapa Māori methodology, these researchers interviewed 10 women with type 2 diabetes living in a rural community in Northland (an area marked by high social deprivation), who had experienced gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy. Analyses of the narratives revealed that intergenerational experiences informed the women’s perception of GDM as an inevitable heritable illness, described as a condition that “just runs in the family”. Their lives were complicated by the cumulative effects of deprivation and living with GDM, and by their perceptions of powerlessness and mental health deterioration. Accounts of missed opportunities for appropriate diagnostic testing, treatment and health promotion programmes for GDM meant that the women and their offspring faced ongoing health consequences. When women developed positive relationships with healthcare providers, GDM was managed better within healthcare services and by the women themselves.
