Determinants of pre-conception care awareness among young and middle-aged women in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh

Pre-conception care pertains to any preventive, promotive, and curative interventions for improving the health outcomes of women. Contrary to the growing burden of intergenerational transmission of chronic diseases, women lacked awareness and access to services for pre-conception care. Considering this, we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the awareness, perceptions, and practices of pre-conception care among women from young and middle-aged groups in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. It was a cross-sectional study conducted with 383 women of reproductive age group (15-40 years) using a structured and pre-validated quantitative questionnaire. Out of 383 women, 171 belonged to the younger age group (15-24 years) and 212 to the middle-aged group (25-40 years). More than 50% of women had not heard of pre-conception care, and more than 90% of women in both groups had low dietary diversity. Middle-aged women had higher pre-conception care compared to younger women (βeta coefficient (95% Confidence Interval); p-value: 0.49 (0.03, 0.95); 0.03).