Preconception care: Assessing the level of awareness, knowledge and practice amongst pregnant women in a tertiary facility

Background: One of the components of health care for every woman of reproductive age is preconception care (PCC). The adoption of this care will assist the healthcare system to shift from the delivery of procedure-based acute care to the provision of counseling-based preventive care. Aims: The aim of this study is to determine the level of awareness, knowledge, and the practice of our women on PCC. Settings and Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 50 consenting pregnant women at the antenatal outpatient clinic. Subjects and Methods: All pregnant women who booked for antenatal care during the period of data collection were consecutively recruited through convenient sampling technique. Data were collected using pretested, semi-structured questionnaires to provide answers to the objectives of the study. Statistical Analysis Used: Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS software version 22 and expressed as frequency and percentages. The Chi-square was used to test for association with a value of P < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: The mean age was 31.5 +/- 3.8 years and majority (80%) had tertiary education. There is high level of awareness of PCC (76%); however, awareness of its practice in Nigeria is very low (34.2%). Only 34.2% had received PCC before index pregnancy. There is, therefore, a huge disconnection between their level of awareness and practice. Conclusions: There is the need to arm our women with detailed and accurate information on PCC, establish functional clinics with availability of evidence-based guidelines to improve uptake and pregnancy outcome.