review · PLoS ONE
Preconception care is a recognised approach to reducing maternal mortality and lowering the risk of adverse health outcomes for mothers and infants. This systematic review and meta-analysis analysed 28 studies from three African regions, encompassing data from 13,067 women, to determine how widely these services are used and what factors influence their uptake. The findings reveal that the pooled prevalence of preconception care utilisation across Africa is 18.72 per cent, reflecting low overall engagement with these services. Uptake is significantly linked to specific maternal factors, including having prior knowledge of preconception care, living with a pre-existing medical condition, and having planned the pregnancy. Because uptake remains low despite the clear health benefits, healthcare organisations are urged to design targeted strategies that encourage greater engagement with preconception services.
Preconception care helps prevent pregnancy complications and reduces maternal and infant deaths. Identifying that fewer than one in five mothers in Africa accesses this care highlights a substantial public health gap. Understanding the key drivers, such as awareness and pregnancy planning, provides healthcare programmes with specific targets to improve uptake and maternal health outcomes.
The abstract does not indicate a commercial application pathway, as it focuses on epidemiological meta-analysis and recommendations for healthcare organisation strategies.
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BACKGROUND: As the studies show, in every minute in the world, 380 women become pregnant and 190 face unplanned or unwanted pregnancies; 110 experience pregnancy-related complications, and one woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause. Preconception care is one of the proven strategies for the reduction in mortality and decreases the risk of adverse health effects for the woman, fetus, and neonate by optimizing maternal health services and improves woman's health. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of utilization of preconception of care and associated factors in Africa. METHODS: Systematic search of published studies done on PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science CINAHL, and manually on Google Scholar. This meta-analysis follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The quality of studies was assessed by the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects method using the STATA™ Version 14 software. RESULT: From 249,301 obtained studies, 28 studies from 3 African regions involving 13067 women included in this Meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of utilization of preconception care among pregnant women in Africa was found to be 18.72% (95% CI: 14.44, 23.00). Knowledge of preconception care (P = <0.001), preexisting medical condition (P = 0.045), and pregnancy intention (P = 0.016) were significantly associated with the utilization of preconception care. CONCLUSION: The results of this meta-analysis indicated, as one of best approaches to improve birth outcomes, the utilization of preconception care is significantly low among mothers in Africa. Therefore, health care organizations should work on strategies to improve preconception care utilization.
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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254935
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