Table 1 Key Sections of SEESPA

GDM health education

•This section included the following written information about GDM:

1)General information about definition, etiology, risk factors, and treatment of GDM

2)Maternal and neonatal complications related to GDM

3)Importance of healthy lifestyle behaviors such as weight management, healthy diet, exercises, and SMBG level to prevent GDM complications

4)Strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes post-partum

•The textual contents are organized in icons according to the section heading so, the user can click on any icon to read the related information

Promote knowledge about GDM perceived, increase perceived susceptibility to disease, increase perceived severity of disease, and increase perceived benefits of following the recommended healthy behaviors

Diet recommendation

•The diet section includes eleven icons that contain information about:

1)General diet advice for women with GDM

2)Fruits (including sugar level)

3)Vegetables (including sugar level)

4)Grains (include the list of grains with carbohydrate level)

5)Milk and dairy (including saturated fat level)

6)Food rich in protein

7)Healthy high-fat foods

8)Food high in fiber

9)Food high in carbohydrates

10)Healthy high carbohydrates food

11)Food high in calories

To promote knowledge and competence to select the appropriate diet to control the BS level

Physical activity

•The physical activity section includes three icons that contain information about:

1)General advice about physical activity during pregnancy

2)Warning signs to stop exercising

3)Recommended physical activities (include list of photos of safe activities that can be done during pregnancy)

•The user can navigate between the three icons to educate herself about physical activity during pregnancy

To promote knowledge and competence to choose the appropriate and safe physical activity during pregnancy to control BS level

Goals

•Tapping the goal icon will direct the user to a list of pre-identified goals (selected goals) from which the user can select as many goals she is willing to achieve during a certain period of time. On the same screen, there is an icon for the achieved goals, so after a certain period, the user can check the achieved goals

To motivate the user to achieve the selected goal by following healthy behaviors

Track

•Taping the track section will direct the user to a screen with five track icons that are:

1)Track weight. Tapping the track weight icon will direct the user to a screen where she can enter a new weight record. On the same screen, information about the date and user’s pre-pregnancy BMI will be shown. On the same screen, the user can click on the icon titled ‘previous records’ where she will be see all weight records per date, total weight gain, minimum allowed total weight gain, and maximum allowed weight gain of the user according to her pre-pregnancy BMI. The user will receive a prompt alert if she exceeds the allowed total weight for her BMI

2)Track BS. Tapping the track BS icon will direct the user to a screen where she can enter BS recordings during fasting, 1-h after meal and 2-h after meal. The frequency of BS recordings depends on the advice received by the user’s primary health care provider. The user will receive a prompt alert if the recorded blood sugar is too high or too low

On the same screen also, the user can click on an icon titled “previous records” where she will be able to see the current month calendar, and a graphical illustration of her BS readings

3)Track physical activity. Tapping the track physical activity icon will direct the user to a screen where she can select the type of activity performed per day from a list of activities such as brisk walking, swimming, stretching exercise, etc. Following the selection of the activity, will direct the user to a pop-up screen where she can enter and save the time spent doing a specific activity. The user can select as many activities done per day. On the same screen also, the user can click on an icon titled ‘previous records’ where it will illustrate the date, type of activity, and time spent per activity

4)Track diet. Tapping the track diet icon will direct the user to a screen where she can select the type of food consumed per day from a list of foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, milk and dairy, sweets, and junk food. Tapping any of the food types, will enable the user to record the food consumed and record the sugar level (low or high), or fat level (low or high), or carbohydrate level (low or high) based on the health information provided in the diet section

5)Change in the treatment plan. Tapping this icon will enable the user to record any change in treatment plan after starting use of the app

To record and keep track of self-care behaviors including weight control, diet, physical activity, and BS

Role model

•Tapping the role model icon will direct the user to a recorded video where the role model woman with previous GDM diagnosis talks about her experience of self-managing GDM, barriers and challenges, and motivating factors

To motivate the user to manage the barriers and challenges using different approaches for an optimal pregnancy outcome

Motivational messages

•Tapping the motivational messages will direct the user to a list of received motivational messages. The user receives two automatically set motivational messages per week which are saved later in this section

To motivate the user to adhere to the recommended healthy behaviors for an optimal pregnancy outcome