Study of pre-conception care (PCC) amongst women in the first trimester coming to the obstetrics and gynaecology (OBGY) outpatient department (OPD) of a hospital in a rural area.

Background: Pre-conception care (PCC) is a set of interventions that aim to identify and modify biomedical, behavioural and social risks to women's health and pregnancy outcomes.

Materials And Methods: It was an observational descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the obstetrics and gynaecology (OBGY) outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care teaching institute in a rural set-up. Two hundred women in the first trimester of pregnancy were interviewed using a pre-designed and pretested questionnaire following informed verbal consent. The study was conducted between May and September 2019. The study excluded women in the 2 or 3 trimester of pregnancy, inpatient department (IPD) patients and those unwilling to participate.

Results: The study revealed that 25.5% of the women had conceived between 14 and 19 years of age. Fifty-four percent of the pregnancies were unplanned. Merely 14.5% had consulted and 15% had their laboratory investigations performed before pregnancy. Only 11% had received pre-conception folic acid supplementation. Pregnancies with birth spacing <2 years accounted for 15%. The proportion of women with known risk factors was 38% being underweight, 9.5% being overweight, 8% being of short stature (height ≤145 cm), 63% having anaemia (haemoglobin <12 g/dL), 10% with a previous history of abortion, 3.5% with systemic diseases, 4.5% with poor oral hygiene, 1% with domestic violence, 3% with medication, 3% with tobacco addiction and 4.5% with radiation/environmental toxin exposure. One percent had the hepatitis B vaccine and 0.5% had the influenza vaccine.

Conclusion: From our study, we conclude that the PCC services are meagre, and unhealthy women who conceive without adequate PCC are prone to maternal and foetal health complications.