Actively preparing for pregnancy is associated with healthier lifestyle of women during the preconception period

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether actively preparing for pregnancy by women is associated with lifestyle changes during the preconception period.

DESIGN: retrospective cross-sectional study.

SETTING: primary care community midwifery practice in the Netherlands.

PARTICIPANTS: convenience sample of 283 women who received antenatal care.

MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: the association between pregnancy preparation (defined as searching for information and/or consulting a healthcare provider) and preconception lifestyle changes (healthier diet, folic acid, alcohol and tobacco cessation) was measured and adjusted for age, body mass index and educational level. Almost 60% (n=160) of women acquired preconception information themselves and 25% (n=68) consulted a healthcare provider regarding their pregnancy wish. The former group was significantly more likely to quit drinking (adjusted OR 5.46 (95% CI 1.76-16.96)), improve their diet (adjusted OR 7.84 (95% CI 3.03-20.30)) and use folic acid (adjusted OR 3.90 (95% CI 2.00-7.62)) compared with women who did not prepare for pregnancy. Effect sizes were even larger for women who (also) consulted a healthcare provider with regard to folic acid use, healthier diet and smoking cessation.

KEY CONCLUSIONS: gathering preconception information, either by women themselves or by means of a PCC consult, is associated with women positively changing lifestyles during the preconception period.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: we recommend to not solely focus interventions on increasing the uptake of PCC consults, yet providing a suitable offer of preconception health information, which enables women to properly inform themselves.