“Is the health system ready?” A qualitative exploration of stakeholders’ opinions about the feasibility of preconception care services in the Nigerian health system

BACKGROUND: Preconception care (PCC) services aim to improve reproductive health outcomes through the provision of biomedical, behavioural and social health interventions to women and couples before conception occurs. Countries that have deployed PCC services have policies that guide the services provided. In Nigeria, PCC is poorly developed and is often provided in an opportunistic manner with no guidelines in place to direct the provision. This study explored the opinions of policymakers and health workers about the feasibility of deploying PCC services in the country. METHODS: This study was a qualitative exploration of opinions about PCC service deployment within the Nigerian health system in which 39 in-depth interviews were conducted with policymakers at the federal and state tiers of government as well as health workers at the tertiary, secondary and primary levels of health care. The transcripts were analysed thematically using a hybrid of deductive and inductive coding on MAXQDA 2018 qualitative data analysis software. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the data—issues around policy for PCC, service integration and collaboration, health system readiness and challenges to PCC service deployment. While noting that the country has no PCC policy, participants identified existing policies into which PCC can be integrated. The participants also described the importance of policy to PCC provision and provided information on existing collaborations that can help the policy development and implementation process. Although many of the participants believed the health system is prepared for PCC deployment, they identified challenges related to policy formulation and implementation, including financial challenges that could hinder the process. CONCLUSION: Deployment of PCC services in the Nigerian health system is achievable as there are existing health-related policies into which the guidelines can be integrated. However, there is a need to consider the possible implementation challenges and address them as part of the planning process.