Practice of Preconception Care and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Manna District, Southwest Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Preconception care is an intervention provided to women and couples of childbearing ages, regardless of pregnancy status or desire, before pregnancy to improve health outcomes for women, new-borns, and children. Preconception care bridges the gap in the continuum of care and addresses pre-pregnancy health risks and health problems that could have negative maternal and fetal consequences. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the practice of preconception care and associated factors among pregnant women in Manna district, Jimma zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross-sectional design and triangulated with qualitative data was conducted among 636 pregnant women from March 02 to April 10, 2019. The 26 Gandas of the district were first stratified into urban and rural. Then, the urban Ganda was taken purposively and among the 25 rural Gandas, 8 Gandas were selected by using a simple random sampling technique. Judgmental sampling technique was used to select the qualitative participants. The data were collected using pre-tested and structured questionnaires through face-to-face interviews. The data were entered into Epi data Manager Version 4.0.2 and then exported to SPSS version 21. Descriptive analysis, Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out. Qualitative data were analyzed by using Atlas ti version 7.0.71. Result: Among 623 respondents, 39(6.3%) of pregnant women had good practice of preconception care. Women who had formal education AOR 3.27[95% C.I 1.11-9.60], reside in urban AOR 3.33[95% C.I 1.26-8.81], those who were on follow up for pre-existing medical illnesses AOR 4.52[95% C.I 1.61-12.70] and those who had good knowledge of preconception care 4.18[1.64-10.65] were more likely to had good practice of preconception care compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: In this study, women’s practice of preconception care was low compared to other studies. Attending formal education, residing in urban, being on follow up for pre-existing medical illnesses, and having good knowledge of preconception care were independent predictors of women’s practice of preconception care. Therefore, all the concerned bodies are recommended to work towards the improvements of women’s practice of preconception care especially through raising the awareness of the community.

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