Preparing pregnancy through Preconception Education Training

Objective: This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of preconception education on unmarried women in preparing for pregnancy. Method: A quasi-experimental pre and posttest with control group study included 92 unmarried women in West Java, Indonesia, which were selected by consecutive sampling. Each respondent in the intervention group was provided a preconception education consisting of preconception physical health, nutrition, and lifestyle topic with a booklet. Results: This study indicated a significant difference in post-intervention scores, with the intervention group scoring higher than the control group in overall preconception health knowledge such as physical health (p < 0.001), nutrition (p < 0.001), and lifestyle (p < 0.001). In terms of intra-group score analysis between pre and post intervention, there were significant changes within the intervention group in the knowledge of physical health (p < 0.001), nutrition (p < 0.001), and lifestyle (p < 0.001). The most significant changes in knowledge occur in preconception nutrition (53.5%) followed by preconception lifestyle (20.1%) and preconception physical health (11.8%). Within the control group, there was no significant change from pre and post intervention in scores for overall preconception health knowledge. Conclusion: This study recommended to use this preconception education to increase the knowledge related to preconception health of the unmarried women whether they plan to have a child soon or postpone the pregnancy after marriage.