Publications

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a rising public health concern in low-resource settings, where limited infrastructure and workforce shortages hinder effective screening, diagnosis, and management. Poorly controlled GDM increased risks of maternal complications, neonatal morbidity, and long-term metabolic disease. Digital health interventions, including mobile health (mHealth) applications, telemedicine, decision-support systems, and wearable technologies, have emerged as innovative strategies to improve GDM management by enhancing access to care, supporting patient self-monitoring, and enabling remote clinician engagement. The purpose of this review was to synthesize evidence on the clinical efficacy and implementation of digital health interventions for GDM in lowresource settings. A narrative synthesis was conducted by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles published between 2012 and 2025, focusing on randomized controlled trials, implementation studies, and high-quality reviews relevant to digital health and GDM. Findings indicated that mobile platforms for glucose monitoring and lifestyle counseling improve glycemic control, with reported mean reductions in fasting blood glucose of 0.4–0.8 mmol/L and HbA1c reductions of up to 0.5% compared with standard care. Telemedicine and community-based digital tools also improved adherence to medical nutrition therapy and facilitated timely insulin initiation. Challenges included limited connectivity, device affordability, literacy barriers, and lack of tailored content for local populations. Evidence supports the potential of digital health interventions to mitigate structural gaps in GDM management, provided they are integrated into broader health system strengthening initiatives. Keywords: Gestational diabetes, Digital health, Low-resource settings, Telemedicine, Mobile health