Awareness and Perception of Preconception Care among Women Attending the Antenatal Clinic of ABUTH, Shika, Zaria.

Awareness and perception of preconception care

Abstract

Background: Preconception care (PCC) is a critical component of healthcare for women of reproductive age group aimed at improving health status and modifying factors that contribute to poor maternal and child health. Despite the known benefits of PCC, its practice is still evolving in Nigeria. The study sought to assess the awareness and perception of preconception care among women attending the antenatal clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 177 women that were recruited via a systematic random sampling technique. Data were collected with a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. A Chi-square test was used to test for association and the results were presented in tables and charts. Results: Only 59.9% and 44.1% were aware of PCC and knew of its practice in Nigeria respectively. There was an association between awareness of the practice of PCC (P=0.000) and uptake of PCC (P=0.000) with awareness of PCC. The commonest components known to the women were folic acid supplementation (52%) and HIV screening and treatment (23.2%). Only 41.8% had benefitted from any component of preconception care. The most identified benefit of preconception care was the prevention of birth defects (35.6%) and 97.1% of the women who had never accessed preconception care were willing to accept it if offered to them. Conclusion: This study shows that though there seems to be an improvement in the awareness and practice of preconception care, the uptake is still low and the commonest reason for this was a lack of awareness of the care and its benefits. It also shows a high rate of acceptability for the care. It is pertinent that conscious effort is made by health workers, hospitals, and the community to educate women at any opportunity and link them with service points to access care.