Preconception Health Indicators and Deprivation: A Cross-Sectional Study Using National Maternity Healthcare Data

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Maternal Health
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Routinely collected maternity data offers a valuable resource for understanding preconception health.
• Identifying key preconception indicators is crucial for improving maternal and infant outcomes.
• Socioeconomic deprivation is a known determinant of health, impacting preconception well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the prevalence of key preconception health indicators using routinely collected maternity data.
• To explore associations between preconception health indicators and area-level socioeconomic deprivation.
• To inform targeted public health interventions for improving preconception care.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective population-based study utilizing anonymised data from the Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS) (2011-2021).
• Analysis of 255,177 pregnancies, focusing on indicators recorded at antenatal booking appointments.
• Logistic regression models were employed to assess the relationship between preconception indicators and deprivation quintiles.

Main Results:

• A significant proportion of women exhibited suboptimal preconception health indicators, such as obesity (21.3%).
• Women residing in the most deprived areas demonstrated a higher prevalence of risk factors compared to those in the least deprived areas.
• For instance, smoking prevalence was substantially higher in the most deprived quintile (25.7%) versus the least deprived (5.6%).

Conclusions:

• Population-based maternity data in Northern Ireland highlight critical areas for improvement in women's preconception health.
• There is a clear need for enhanced support, particularly for women living in the most deprived regions.
• These findings serve as a baseline for future interventions and monitoring of preconception health, acknowledging data limitations.