Review Clinician views and knowledge regarding healthcare provision in the postpartum period for women with recent gestational diabetes: A systematic review of qualitative/survey studies Emer Van Ryswyk a, * , Philippa Middleton a,1 , William Hague a,2 , Caroline Crowther a,b,3 a Australian Research Centre for Health of Women and Babies (ARCH), Robinson Research Institute, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, The University of Adelaide, 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, 5006, Adelaide, SA, Australia b Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019 Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142 West Auckland 1142, New Zealand d i a b e t e s r e s e a r c h a n d c l i n i c a l p r a c t i c e x x x ( 2 0 1 4 ) x x x – x x x a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 14 February 2014 Received in revised form 9 May 2014 Accepted 5 September 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus Postpartum Healthcare a b s t r a c t Aim: To examine clinician views and knowledge regarding postpartum healthcare provi- sion for women who have experienced gestational diabetes (GDM). Methods: Systematic review that searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and CINAHL. Qualitative studies and surveys, with clinicians as participants, which reported pre-speci- fied outcomes, including barriers and facilitators to postpartum care for GDM, were includ- ed. Two authors independently assessed quality and undertook thematic synthesis. Results: Eleven surveys and two interview studies were included (4435 clinicians). Key themes included adequacy of knowledge of risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), gaps between knowledge and practice relating to postpartum screening, and differing percep- tions of the value of postpartum screening. Clinicians perceived that women faced obstacles to accessing healthcare, and a need for improved GDM education. Studies reported short- falls in systems to ensure postpartum screening occurs, and a need to improve communi- cation and collaboration relating to care of women who have experienced GDM. The surveys were often limited in their depth and ability to identify remedial strategies. Conclusions: Barriers to provision of care for women who have had GDM, such as lack of communication of the diagnosis, need to be addressed, and further interview studies exploring clinician views on screening for T2DM are required. # 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.:+61 8 8313 1369; fax: +61 8 8313 1406. E-mail addresses: emer.vanryswyk@adelaide.edu.au, emer.van.ryswyk@gmail.com (E. Van Ryswyk), philippa.middleton@adelaide.edu.au (P. Middleton), bill.hague@adelaide.edu.au (W. Hague), caroline.crowther@adelaide.edu.au, c.crowther@auckland.ac.nz (C. Crowther). 1 Tel.: + 61 8 8161 7612. 2 Tel.: + 61 8 8161 7619 3 Tel.: + 61 8 8161 7619/+64 9 923 6011. DIAB-6153; No. of Pages 11 Please cite this article in press as: Heatley E, et al. Clinician views and knowledge regarding healthcare provision in the postpartum period for women with recent gestational diabetes: A systematic review of qualitative/survey studies. Diabetes Res Clin Pract (2014), http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.diabres.2014.09.001 Contents available at ScienceDirect Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/diabres http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2014.09.001 0168-8227/# 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.