Not all women of childbearing age are healthy

Women should ideally be healthy and avoid any harmful activities and substances near the time of conception, but many women of childbearing age have unhealthy habits or chronic medical conditions that can affect pregnancy. For these women, the preconception health care is of particular importance since by managing risk factors and appropriate treatment of medical conditions it is possible to contribute to better pregnancy outcomes.

The data from the National Perinatal Information System of Slovenia show that 59,176 women gave birth in Slovenia in the period 2015 – 2017, 48% for the first time. On average, they were 30.8 years old, only 1% were younger than 20 years, and 20% were older than 35 years.

94.4% of women conceived spontaneously, 4.5% with IVF-ET and 1.1% after induction of ovulation and/or insemination.

At the beginning of the pregnancy, 5% of women were underweight, 19% were overweight and 10% were obese. Ten percent of women smoked during pregnancy, less educated women smoked more often.

Source: National institute of public health, Perinatal Information System of Slovenia

In reproductive history, 4% of women reported a history of cervical excision procedure and 5% underwent a surgical procedure due to anomalies of the uterus. In personal medical history, women most commonly reported thyroid disease (40 per 1000), cardiovascular disease (17 per 1000), chronic pulmonary disease (15 per 1000) and mental illness (9 per 1000). Epilepsy was recorded in 6 cases per 1000, diabetes in 4 per 1000, and history of cancer in 2 cases per 1000 women.

Barbara Mihevc Ponikvar, MD, Public Health Specialist, National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Correspondence e-mail: barbara.mihevc[at]nijz.si

Please follow and like us: