Aim: To learn the association between sociodemographic and obstetric factors and lifestyle characteristics of pregnant women, and to identify factors that can influence pregnant women's health consciousness.
Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was performed among women who gave birth in Szeged in 2014-2015. Data collection was based on a self-administered questionnaire and health documentations. Overall maternal health promoting behavior (MHPB) index was defined by summarizing the scores obtained from diet, physical activity, smoking status, and alcohol consumption.
Results: The final analysis included 1548 mothers; 41.3% (n = 602) of the sample had healthy diet, 9.0% (n = 134) were physically active and attended special pregnancy exercise classes, 84.4% (n = 1279) did not drink alcohol, and 93.5% (n = 1447) were nonsmokers. Regarding the MHPB index, 0.8% (n = 11) of the women reached the maximum score (20), while the average was 14.8 (SD = 2.58). Advanced maternal age (p < 0.001), having a spouse or partner (p < 0.001), higher educational level (p < 0.001), planned pregnancy (p < 0.001), and early visit at pregnancy care (p = 0.046) were significantly associated with higher MHPB index.
Conclusion: The lifestyle of pregnant women can have a great impact on the developing fetus, either in a positive or negative way. In order to evaluate maternal lifestyle, overall health behavior should be considered. Lifestyle of the included women was not satisfactory, an improvement in health consciousness is needed at every social level; however, the differences between the various social classes may suggest the importance of further promotion and improvement of pregnancy planning and pregnancy care among younger and lower educated women.
Keywords: health behavior; health literacy; healthy lifestyle; maternal behavior; pregnancy.
© 2022 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.