Preconception Care Utilization among Childbearing Women in South-East Nigeria

Adverse pregnancy outcomes remain a challenging health problem in Nigeria. Before conception, couples need to utilize preconception care which is meant to address most of the reproductive health risks. However, the use of this service and its determinants is not well investigated globally. This Cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the utilization of preconception care and its determinants among mothers in South-East Nigeria. Pre-tested and validated structured Questionnaire on Preconception Care Utilization was used to collect data from 350 postnatal women who were systematically selected from 33 sampled health facilities. Data were collated and entered into SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the association between the demographic characteristics of the mothers and the utilization of preconception care. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results show that only 23.4% of the mothers utilized preconception care. Parity, employment status, and pregnancy intention were significantly associated with preconception care utilization. The odd of utilizing preconception care were 60.2% lower among multiparous women than primiparous women. Working-class mothers were more than 70% less likely to utilize preconception care than mothers who were not employed. Mothers whose pregnancy was intended were 3.4 times more likely to utilized preconception care than mothers whose pregnancy was unintended. Health facilities should establish functional clinics with the availability of evidence-based guidelines to improve uptake of preconception care. Health care professionals should intensify their efforts in encouraging women to receive preconception care.