Background:
March of Dimes has learned from focus group testing that women who are not contemplating pregnancy do not want to talk about preconception health and health care. Women say that they are more interested in messages which pertain to their health, rather than messages framed as important for improving birth outcomes. According to Gallup surveys, most women tend to get health information first from their provider; the exception is women 18-24 years. These young women said they get their health information from colleagues, at college or from the media. A 2006 Gallup survey also showed that women age 18-24 knew less about folic acid than women older than 24 years. A recent YouTube user survey indicated that 48% of the users of YouTube are women, and women 18-24 years old are the dominant age group.

Objectives:
March of Dimes wanted to target non-contemplating women 18-24 years old with preconception health messages.

Methods:
Guided by the data, four 2-minute videos on different aspects of preconception health, including folic acid consumption, were developed and produced for YouTube viewing by non- contemplating young women.

Results:
Lessons learned from consumer feedback as well as related findings from the 2007 national Gallup survey of pre-pregnancy awareness and behavior among women of childbearing age will be presented.


Conclusion and implications for practice:
Implications for practice about preconception health promotion messages and media for hard to reach (non-contemplating) women will be discussed.