The Association Between ACE Score and Having Pre-Pregnancy Health Conversations with a Healthcare Provider (2016–2020)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) increase health risks leading to negative pregnancy outcomes, thus prompting the need for preconception care to address these risks. The aim of this study is to assess the association between ACEs score and self-report of having pre-pregnancy health conversations with a healthcare provider.

Secondary analysis of PRAMS data from 2016 to 2020 was performed from 3 states and Washington, DC. ACEs score was categorized as 0 (low risk), 1–3 (intermediate risk), and ≥ 4 (high risk). Pre-pregnancy health conversations were measured using reports of being asked about the desire to have children, use birth control to prevent pregnancy, and/or improve health during any visit in the 12 months prior to pregnancy. Multivariate Poisson Regression was performed to adjust for potential confounders: age, race/ethnicity, income, education, insurance type, marital status, pregnancy intention, and parity.

A total of 10,448 PRAMS survey responses from 2016 to 2020 were included in the analysis. More than half of women reported having at least 1 ACE (51%). Those with an ACE score of ≥ 4 had 1.19 (95% CI: 1.01–1.41) times higher adjusted Prevalence Ratio (aPR) and those with an ACE score of 1–3 had about the same aPR 1.00 (95% CI: 0.93–1.09) of reporting pre-pregnancy health conversations with a healthcare provider compared to those with no ACEs.

The overall low percentage of respondents reporting receipt of pre-pregnancy health conversations with a health care provider indicates the need for these conversations to be had on a more routine basis.