Objective: This study explores beliefs about illnessand health and self-care behaviour among womenwith gestational diabetes living in a rural area of thesouth east of China.Design: A qualitative exploratory study using semistructuredinterviews and qualitative content analysis.

Setting: A hospital located in the outskirts of a city inthe south east of China.Participants: Seventeen women with gestational diabetesin 34–38th pregnant weeks.

Results: The beliefs about gestational diabetes amongthe women in the present study were found to be bidirectional.Some of them feared the illness and its negativeinfluence on health, while others believed that itwas not a severe illness and disbelieved the diagnosisof gestational diabetes. They related their illness andhealth to the individual, social and natural factors.They mainly sought help from the professional sector,but did not fully comply with the professionals’advice. Diet control and exercise were their main selfcaremeasures, but none of them self-monitored theirblood glucose. They demonstrated their misunderstandingabout diet control and self-monitoring ofblood glucose.

Conclusions: This study highlighted the serious lackof knowledge, lower level of risk awareness and poorself-care behaviour among women in this group.Health professionals were found to be the most importantsource of knowledge about gestational diabetesfor these women. The influence of Chinese culture was demonstrated. Gestational diabetes among thesewomen can most likely be improved by training thehealth professionals and by health education involvingindividuals, families and the rural communities.