Self-reported Provision of Preconception Care and Associated Factors

ABSTRACT Background: Preconception care (PCC) is the provision of health interventions to women and couples before conception occurs and is valuable in promoting healthy maternal, birth, and neonatal health outcomes. In Africa, more so in Kenya, maternal and neonatal health indicators have remained poor. The key constraint limiting progress is the gap between what is needed and what exists in terms of skills and availability of human resources & infrastructures in the face of increased demand. This gap was yet to be measured for PCC in Kenya, more so in Kisumu County. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, this study specifically sought to determine the rate of self-reported PCC provision and to illustrate how it is influenced by health provider characteristics. Structured interviews were conducted with health providers (n=476) to ascertain their knowledge, perceptions and practice of PCC care. The significance of the differences in means was determined by the Student’s t test and linear regression were used to show the relationship between the health provider characteristics and the PCC provision rate. Results: Self-reported PCC provision was estimated at 39%. There was a significant difference in the mean for cadres {nurses (M=70.04, SD=8.951) and non-nurses (M=71.90, SD=8.732); t (473) =-2.23, P=.026)}, years of experience up to 5 years (M=72.04, SD=8.417) and more than 5 years (M=69.89, SD=9.283); t (465) =2.63, P=.009, the mean provision per level (M=60.21, SD=4.902; t (26)=-5.06, P<.001) and type of service (M=69.36, SD=4.924; t (26) =4.63, P<.001). A significant regression model was found, and the model statistics were F (2,464) =5.97, P=.003, R2=.03. Only cadre (b=0.01, t (464) =2.23, P=.026) and years of experience (b=-0.13, t (464) =-2.79, P=.005) were significant determinants of PCC provision. The health workers felt PCC was an important service whose provision was low due to inadequate human capital investment. Conclusion: Self-reported provision of PCC by health workers was relatively low and was influenced by the cadre of health workers and their years of experience. It specifically demonstrated the importance of various aspects of human capital, i.e., knowledge, perceptions, competence and adequacy of training in the provision of this care. Furthermore, it showed that the nursing cadre has a higher probability of providing this care. Investing in on-the-job training for health providers, especially nurses, and providing care in primary health facilities in rural areas can improve PCC service delivery.