Karin Hammarberg1,2, Julie Hassard3, Renee de Silva3, Louise Johnson3. 1. Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority, Level 30, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia. Karin.hammarberg@monash.edu. 2. School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, 3004, Australia. Karin.hammarberg@monash.edu. 3. Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority, Level 30, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Optimal parental preconception health benefits reproductive outcomes. However, preconception health promotion is not routinely offered in primary health care settings to people of reproductive age. The aim was to gauge the planned preconception health behaviours and attitudes towards being asked about pregnancy intention by a general practitioner (GP) among people of reproductive age in Australia. METHOD: The research was conducted on a single wave of Australia's first and only probability-based online panel, Life in Australia™. Members of the Life in Australia™ panel are Australian residents aged 18 years or over. All active members between the ages of 18 and 45 years were eligible to participate. Eligible panel members were invited to complete a survey about fertility and childbearing. Data were collected from 18 February to 4 March 2019. RESULTS: In all 965 female and male members of Life in Australia™ aged between 18 and 45 years were invited to complete the survey. Of these, 716 (74.2%) agreed. Most respondents indicated that if they were planning to have a child they would try to optimise their preconception health by adopting a healthier diet (80%), seeing a GP for a health check-up (78%), reducing alcohol consumption (78% of those consuming alcohol), getting fitter (73%), and stopping smoking (70% of smokers). Three in four (74%) stated that they would not mind if their GP asked them about their pregnancy intentions. CONCLUSION: Findings suggests that routinely asking people of reproductive age about their pregnancy intentions and advising those who are planning pregnancy about what they can do to ensure optimal preconception health would be acceptable to most people and may improve reproductive outcomes.
BACKGROUND: Optimal parental preconception health benefits reproductive outcomes. However, preconception health promotion is not routinely offered in primary health care settings to people of reproductive age. The aim was to gauge the planned preconception health behaviours and attitudes towards being asked about pregnancy intention by a general practitioner (GP) among people of reproductive age in Australia. METHOD: The research was conducted on a single wave of Australia's first and only probability-based online panel, Life in Australia™. Members of the Life in Australia™ panel are Australian residents aged 18 years or over. All active members between the ages of 18 and 45 years were eligible to participate. Eligible panel members were invited to complete a survey about fertility and childbearing. Data were collected from 18 February to 4 March 2019. RESULTS: In all 965 female and male members of Life in Australia™ aged between 18 and 45 years were invited to complete the survey. Of these, 716 (74.2%) agreed. Most respondents indicated that if they were planning to have a child they would try to optimise their preconception health by adopting a healthier diet (80%), seeing a GP for a health check-up (78%), reducing alcohol consumption (78% of those consuming alcohol), getting fitter (73%), and stopping smoking (70% of smokers). Three in four (74%) stated that they would not mind if their GP asked them about their pregnancy intentions. CONCLUSION: Findings suggests that routinely asking people of reproductive age about their pregnancy intentions and advising those who are planning pregnancy about what they can do to ensure optimal preconception health would be acceptable to most people and may improve reproductive outcomes.
Entities:
Keywords:
General practice; Health promotion; Preconception care; Preconception health; Pregnancy intention; Primary care
Authors: Judith Stephenson; Danielle Ajm Schoenaker; William Hinton; Lucilla Poston; Mary Barker; Nisreen A Alwan; Keith Godfrey; Mark Hanson; Simon de Lusignan Journal: Br J Gen Pract Date: 2021-04-29 Impact factor: 5.386
Authors: Trinidad Montero-Vilchez; Luis Salvador-Rodriguez; Andrea Rodriguez-Tejero; Manuel Sanchez-Diaz; Salvador Arias-Santiago; Alejandro Molina-Leyva Journal: Life (Basel) Date: 2021-03-26