Opportunities for enhancing pregnancy planning and preconception health behaviours of Australian women

The preconception period provides a significant opportunity to engage women in healthy behaviour change for improved maternal and child health outcomes. However, there is limited research exploring women’s pregnancy planning in Australia. This study investigated associations between pregnancy planning, socio-demographics and preconception health behaviours in Australian women. A retrospective cross-sectional survey of pregnant women ≥18-years-of-age recruited through a Victorian public maternity service and a national private health insurer. Overall 317 women (30±4.7 years) participated (public: n=225, private: n=92). Planned pregnancies were reported by 74% of women and were independently associated with marital status (AOR=5.71 95% CI 1.92–17.00, p=0.002); having ≤2 children (AOR=3.75 95% CI 1.28–11.05, p=0.016); and having private health insurance (AOR=2.51 95% CI 1.08–5.81, p=0.03). Overall, women reported preconception: any folic-acid supplementation (59%), up-to-date cervical screening (68%), weight management attempts (75%), accessing information from health professionals (57%) and immunisation reviews (47%). Pregnancy planners were more likely to use folic-acid (AOR=17.13 95% CI 7.67–38.26, p