Introduction: Preconception health refers to the health of women and men in their lives before becoming pregnant. Preconception is about preventive behaviour regarding risk factors in order to maximise the health of future offspring. Preconception health is influenced by lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity, alcohol and drug use, chemicals, environmental toxins and harmful habits/practices. Optimally, people should be aware of the importance of this period and improve their lifestyle before planning a pregnancy. Purpose: The aim of the thesis is to find out how well midwifery students, as those who will be in charge of preconception health counselling, know the topic. Methods: The theoretical review of the professional and scientific literature in Slovene and English used a descriptive method of work. The latest findings in the field of preconception were presented. In the empirical part of the thesis, a quantitative method of data collection was used, based on a questionnaire survey among midwifery students on the topic of knowledge of preconception health. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect the data, which was developed using the EnKlikAnketa (1KA) web portal. The survey included students of the midwifery programme at the Faculty of Health in Ljubljana who were attending the first, second or third year of the programme in the academic year 2021/2022. Respondents were contacted via class email addresses and participation was voluntary and anonymous. The collection of responses took place between 14 April and 3 May 2022. Results: A total of 44 students (65%) completed the questionnaire, 18 in the first year, 15 in the second year and 11 in the third year. The students showed the most knowledge in the question where they answered that women with unregulated blood pressure before pregnancy have a higher risk of preeclampsia. The lowest knowledge was found in the question requiring students to answer that women who work nights are more likely to have menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhoea, endometriosis and miscarriage, with no students answering this question correctly. The majority of respondents thought that they had acquired most of their knowledge about preconception during their studies. Discussion and conclusion: The knowledge of the students was found to be deficient, with a percentage threshold of 60% being set as a sufficient knowledge threshold. Students from all three years of study completed the questionnaire with an overall average score of 36%, with the best third year students scoring an average of 41% and the worst second year students scoring an average of 33%. Knowledge of preconception is very important for future midwives and midwifery practitioners, as they will often encounter people of childbearing age in their profession who will approach them with questions about preconception.
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