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Objectives: The aim was to explore adolescents' beliefs and awareness regarding fertility and preconception health, as well as their views and experiences of information about fertility and preconception health directed at their age group. Methods: We performed seven semi-structured focus group interviews among upper secondary school students (n = 47) aged 16-18 years in two Swedish counties. Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Results: One theme ('important but far away') and five categories ('starting a family far down on the list'; 'high awareness but patchy knowledge of fertility and preconception health'; 'gender roles influence beliefs about fertility and preconception health'; 'wish to preserve fertility and preconception health in order to keep the door to procreation open'; 'no panacea - early and continuous education about fertility and preconception health') emerged from the interviews. Participants recognised the importance of preconception health and were highly aware of the overall importance of a healthy lifestyle. Their knowledge, however, was patchy and they had difficulties relating to fertility and preconception health on a personal and behavioural level. Participants wanted more information but had heterogeneous beliefs about when, where and how this information should be given. Conclusion: The adolescents wanted information on fertility and preconception health to be delivered repeatedly as well as through different sources.

Objectives: The aim was to explore adolescents' beliefs and awareness regarding fertility and preconception health, as well as their views and experiences of information about fertility and preconception health directed at their age group. Methods: We performed seven semi-structured focus group interviews among upper secondary school students (n = 47) aged 16-18 years in two Swedish counties. Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Results: One theme ('important but far away') and five categories ('starting a family far down on the list'; 'high awareness but patchy knowledge of fertility and preconception health'; 'gender roles influence beliefs about fertility and preconception health'; 'wish to preserve fertility and preconception health in order to keep the door to procreation open'; 'no panacea - early and continuous education about fertility and preconception health') emerged from the interviews. Participants recognised the importance of preconception health and were highly aware of the overall importance of a healthy lifestyle. Their knowledge, however, was patchy and they had difficulties relating to fertility and preconception health on a personal and behavioural level. Participants wanted more information but had heterogeneous beliefs about when, where and how this information should be given. Conclusion: The adolescents wanted information on fertility and preconception health to be delivered repeatedly as well as through different sources.

Background Infertility has been associated with psychological distress, but whether these symptoms persist after achieving pregnancy via assisted reproductive technology (ART) remains unclear. We compared the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms between women seeking for infertility treatment and women who conceived after ART or naturally. Methods Four hundred and sixty-eight sub-fertile non-pregnant women, 2972 naturally pregnant women and 143 women pregnant after ART completed a questionnaire in this cross-sectional study. The Anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A≥8) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS≥12) were used for assessing anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance were applied to explore associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among sub-fertile, non-pregnant women (57.6% and 15.7%, respectively) were significantly higher compared to women pregnant after ART (21.1% and 8.5%, respectively) and naturally pregnant women (18.8% and 10.3%, respectively). History of psychiatric diagnosis was identified as an independent risk factor for both anxiety and depressive symptoms. The presence of at least one unhealthy lifestyle behavior (daily tobacco smoking, weekly alcohol consumption, BMI≥25, and regular physical exercise < 2 h/week) was also associated with anxiety (Prevalence Ratio, PR: 1.24; 95%CI: 1.09–1.40) and depressive symptoms (PR: 1.25; 95%CI: 1.04–1.49). Conclusions Women pregnant after ART showed no difference in anxiety and depressive symptoms compared to naturally pregnant women. However, early psychological counseling and management of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors for sub-fertile women may be advisable, particularly for women with a previous history of psychiatric diagnosis.

Introduction: Research about pregnancy-planning behaviour mostly focuses on women, even though pregnancy planning usually also concerns men. The purpose of this study was to investigate how men plan for family, and to measure their fertility knowledge after having become fathers. Material and methods: Data were collected in 2014 as part of a Swedish longitudinal pregnancy-planning study. Men were recruited through their female partner one year after childbirth. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire about pregnancy planning, lifestyles, and fertility. Results: Of the 796 participants, 646 (81%) stated that the pregnancy had been very or fairly planned, and 17% (n=128) had made a lifestyle adjustment before pregnancy to improve health and fertility. The most common adjustments were to reduce/quit the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, or snuff, and to exercise more. First-time fathers and those who had used assisted reproductive technology to become pregnant were more likely to have made an adjustment. Fertility knowledge varied greatly. Men with university education had better fertility knowledge than men without university education. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that there is variation in how men plan and prepare for pregnancy. Most men did not adjust their lifestyle to improve health and fertility, while some made several changes. Both pregnancy-planning behaviour and fertility knowledge seem to be related to level of education and mode of conception. To gain deeper understanding of behaviour and underlying factors, more research is needed.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate Ukrainian medical students’ intentions andattitudes in relation to future parenthood, and their knowledge about fertility. Methods: Aclassroom survey was carried out of randomly selected groups among 3568 Russian-speakingmedical students. The response rate was 88.8%; 858 were female and 407 were male; the mean agewas 20.6 (standard deviation [SD] 2.4) years. Results: One in four male and 16% of femalerespondents did not want to have children, 3.3% had children and 17% wanted one child only.Female respondents wished to have their first child when they were 24.4 (SD 2.4) years of age, andmale respondents when they were 26.8 (SD 3.4) years of age. Around 60% of respondents reportedthere was a pronounced decline in female fertility after the age of 45 years. Conclusions: The desireto have children in the future is not apparent among medical students, especially not among men.Gaps in students’ knowledge about fertility need to be addressed by sexual and reproductiveeducation.

Having children or not is one of the most important decisions that a person will make in his or her lifetime. The Reproductive Life Plan (RLP) is a protocol that aims to encourage both women and men to reflect on their reproductive intentions and to find strategies for successful family planning, for example to have the wanted number of children and to avoid unwanted pregnancies as well as ill-health that may threaten reproduction. The RLP was developed in an American context for promotion of reproductive health in a life cycle perspective. Few studies have systematically evaluated the effectiveness of using an RLP protocol in clinical practice. This article describes the application of using the RLP protocol in contraceptive counselling in Sweden.

STUDY QUESTION: How is the reproductive life plan (RLP) adopted in midwifery contraceptive counselling? SUMMARY ANSWER: A majority of midwives adopted the RLP in their counselling, had predominantly positive experiences and considered it a feasible tool for promoting reproductive health. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The RLP is a health-promoting tool recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA for improving preconception health. It was recently used in a clinical setting in Sweden and was found to increase women's knowledge about fertility and to influence women's wishes to have their last child earlier in life. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: An exploratory mixed methods study among 68 midwives who provided contraceptive counselling in primary health care to at least 20 women each during the study period. Midwives received an introduction and materials for using the RLP in contraceptive counselling. Three months later, in the spring of 2014, they were invited to complete a questionnaire and participate in a focus group interview about their adoption of the RLP. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Data collection was through a questionnaire (n = 53 out of 68; participation rate 78%) and five focus group interviews (n = 22). Participants included both younger and older midwives with longer and shorter experiences of contraceptive counselling in public and private health care in one Swedish county. Quantitative data were analysed for differences between users and non-users, and qualitative data were analysed by qualitative content analysis to explore the midwives experiences and opinions of using the RLP. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Sixty-eight per cent of midwives had used the RLP in their contraceptive counselling. Four categories emerged through the focus group interviews: (i) A predominantly positive experience; (ii) The RLP-a health-promoting tool; (iii) individual and societal factors influence the RLP counselling; and (4) lon

Women’s health and lifestyle before pregnancy can influence both the fertility and the health of mother and child. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore current preconception health and care and evaluate a new tool for preconception care. Study I was a qualitative descriptive analysis of preconception recommendations in six European countries. All six countries had guidelines for high-risk women, but guidelines for healthy women were fragmented and inconsistent. Guidelines regarding nutrition and lifestyle differed between countries. Preconception care was offered to high-risk women but otherwise on an opportunistic basis. Study II was a cross sectional study measuring pregnancy planning among 3390 pregnant women at antenatal clinics. Three out of four pregnancies were very or fairly planned and 12 % fairly or very unplanned. Women with planned pregnancies were more likely to have a higher socioeconomic status and to have longer relationships than women with unplanned pregnancies. The level of pregnancy planning was associated with planning behavior, such as information seeking and intake of folic acid, but without a reduction in alcohol consumption. Study III was a randomized controlled trial evaluating the Reproductive Life Plan (RLP) as a health promoting tool in contraceptive counselling. Women (n=299) at a student health center were randomized to standard care or standard care plus RLP. RLP-based counselling increased women’s knowledge of both reproduction and folic acid intake prior to pregnancy, affected the women’s RLP and was appreciated by the women. Study IV explored the adaption of RLP among midwives using mixed methods with focus group interviews and a questionnaire. Midwives generally adopted the RLP in contraceptive counselling, had predominantly positive experiences of the RLP and considered it a feasible tool for promoting reproductive health. In conclusion, preconception care is a public health issue. Pregnancy planning is associated with s, Kvinnors hälsa och levnadsvanor före graviditet kan påverka både fertiliteten och hälsan hos moder och barn. Avhandlingens övergripande syfte var att utforska hälsa och rådgivning/vård inför graviditet och att utvärdera en ny metod för rådgivning. Studie I var en kvalitativ deskriptiv analys av riktlinjer för hälsa och rådgivning inför graviditet i sex europeiska länder. Alla länder hade riktlinjer för kvinnor med kroniska sjukdomar, men det fanns få och fragmenterade riktlinjer för friska kvinnor och för män. Ländernas riktlinjer för nutrition och levnadsvanor skiljde sig delvis åt. Vård inför graviditet erbjöds bara rutinmässigt till kvinnor med kroniska sjukdomar. Studie II var en tvärsnittstudie som mätte graviditetsplanering bland 3390 gravida kvinnor vid inskrivning i mödravården. Tre av fyra graviditeter var mycket/ganska planerade och 12 % mycket/ganska oplanerade. Kvinnor med planerade graviditeter hade med större sannolikhet en högre socioekonomisk status och längre förhållanden än kvinnor med oplanerade graviditeter. Det fanns samband mellan hur planerad graviditeten var och planeringsbeteende såsom informations­sökning och folsyra­intag, men inte med alkoholkonsumtion. Studie III var en interventionsstudie för att utvärdera Reproduktiv livsplan (RLP), ett hälsofrämjande samtalsunderlag i preventivmedelsrådgivning. Kvinnor som besökte en studentmottagning för preventivmedelsrådgivning lottades till sedvanlig vård eller sedvanlig vård med RLP. Preventivmedelsrådgivning baserad på konceptet Reproduktiv livsplan (RLP) ökade kvinnors kunskaper både om reproduktion och folsyra, påverkade kvinnornas RLP och uppskattades av kvinnorna. I Studie IV kombinerades fokusgrupper med en enkät för att undersöka anammandet av RLP bland barnmorskor. Barnmorskorna anammade överlag RLP i sin preventivmedels­rådgivning, hade övervägande positiva upplevelser av det och ansåg att det var ett användbart verktyg för reproduktivt hälsofrämjande. Hälsa och rådgivning inför gravidit

Meeting Abstract: P-754

Objectives Preconception care is important for the screening, prevention and management of risk factors that affect pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to investigate pre-pregnancy care policies, guidelines, recommendations and services in six European countries. Methods In 2013, an electronic search and investigation was undertaken of preconception policy, guidelines, recommendations and services available to healthcare professionals and the general public in six European countries: Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Findings were compared within five categories: Governmental policy and legislation; Professional bodies and organisations; Healthcare providers; Charitable organisations; Web-based public information and internet sites. Results All countries had preconception recommendations for women with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and epilepsy. Recommendations for healthy women and men were fragmented and inconsistent. Preconception guidance was often included in antenatal and pregnancy guidelines. Differences between countries were seen with regard to nutritional and lifestyle advice particularly in relation to fish, caffeine and alcohol consumption, and vitamin supplementation. Conclusions Current guidelines are heterogeneous. Collaborative research across Europe is required in order to develop evidence-based guidelines for preconception health and care. There is a need to establish a clear strategy for promoting advice and guidance within the European childbearing population.

Objective To investigate the extent to which Danish women attending antenatal care plan their pregnancies and to determine the association between pregnancy planning and the intake of folic acid, alcohol consumption and smoking habits prior to conception and before the 16th week of gestation. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 258 women. Main outcome measures: intake of folic acid, alcohol consumption and smoking. Pregnancy planning was assessed by the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) and the five graded Swedish Pregnancy Planning Scale. Results Most (77%) of the participants reported that their pregnancies were very or fairly well planned. Higher median LMUP scores were observed in women taking folic acid (p < 0.001), in those consuming less alcohol, and in women who stopped smoking prior to pregnancy (p = 0.043). However, 43% of the respondents with a high degree of pregnancy planning and 98% of those with a low degree of planning had not taken folic acid prior to pregnancy. Binge drinking during early pregnancy was reported by 20% of women with a high degree of planned pregnancy and 31% of those with a low degree (p = 0.1). Conclusion Pregnancy planning was associated with a healthier lifestyle but still many women could improve their lifestyle in connection to pregnancy. Their level of alcohol consumption is higher than that recommended for best pregnancy outcome.