Background and Aims: Gestational diabetes (GDM), defined as high blood sugar levels during pregnancy, is an increasing health problem affecting up to 18% of pregnancies worldwide that multiplies by 7 the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) after birth. Strong evidence exists that lifestyle change (diet and physical activity) can reduce the development of T2DM in those at risk. A new mother faces many challenges and weight loss after pregnancy is typically not the highest priority, leading to high numbers of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Moreover, early fetal programming increases the risk of developing T2DM for the offspring. Current health systems worldwide lack resources to manage the numbers of women at risk and support them in improving lifestyle behaviours. Tele‐coaching can help relieve this burden. Language shaping, especially in asynchronous communication, plays an important role in patient outcomes. There is a big potential for using text messages in these interventions, but research on the topic has been scarce

Methods: Text messages analysis and a subsequent language interaction analysis within a randomized trial on tele‐coaching for prevention of GDM and postnatal weight loss in 400 women at risk in Australia, Ireland, the UK and Spain (Bump2Baby&Me)

Results: This PhD project will contribute to asynchronous communication research on interventions aiming to prevent lifestyle‐related diseases such as T2DM and GDM. It will also allow to create an asynchronous coaching manual that will be made available in English, Danish and Spanish

Conclusions: A better understanding of text‐messages based lifestyle intervention will contribute to better patient outcomes.as well as reduced costs and increased reachability