Pregnancy Preparation Among Women and Their Partners in the UK: How Common Is It and What Do People Do?

Abstract

Pregnancy preparation, to optimize health before pregnancy, has been shown to reduce adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study investigated the changes that women, and their partners, made in preparation for pregnancy. Analyses showed that less than half of women (n = 134, 49%) and only 24% of partners (n = 22) reported making any changes in preparation for pregnancy. Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) score was the only significant factor associated with pregnancy preparation; every 1-point increase in DAP reduced the odds of a woman reporting preparing for pregnancy by 78% (OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.34). This study highlights the need for interventions addressing pregnancy preparation.