Identification of health educational needs of women in a vulnerable region

Introduction Education to promote women's health must be continuous and adapted to the changing needs of each stage of the life cycle. Objective To identify and describe the health training needs of women attending primary care centers in a Colombian subregion. Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among women aged 18–44 years attending four primary care centers. After informed consent, participants completed an online questionnaire assessing knowledge according to life-cycle stage: non-pregnant, pregnant, or postpartum. Descriptive analyses were performed, and differences across groups were evaluated using ANOVA and bivariate analyses. Multivariate logistic regression identified determinants of performance. Results A total of 1,478 women participated (612 non-pregnant, 454 pregnant, 412 postpartum), with a median age of 26 years; 90.4% had low socioeconomic status and 82.8% low educational attainment. Educational needs varied by life-cycle stage: non-pregnant women required training in contraception, menstrual cycle, STIs, cancer screening, and mental health; pregnant women in vaccination and sexuality; postpartum women in depression, puerperal care, childcare, breastfeeding, and newborn vomiting. Knowledge scores differed significantly (p < 0.001): pregnant women scored highest (73.33%), followed by postpartum (57.57%) and non-pregnant participants (52.83%). Differences by educational level were evident. In the non-pregnant group, scores increased from 45.28% (no schooling) to 56.60% (secondary education). Pregnant women showed the strongest gradient, rising from 51.67% to 80.00% from no schooling to higher education. Among postpartum women, scores were lowest with no schooling (30.30%) and stabilized between 54–59% for all educated groups. Regression analysis identified education and municipality of residence as main determinants of performance. Higher education substantially reduced failure probability (OR: 0.16), whereas age increased it slightly (OR: 1.04). Stratified models showed highest predictive capacity among pregnant women (AUC: 0.74). The postpartum model performed poorly (AUC: 0.61). Conclusion Educational needs differ across the life cycle and are strongly shaped by schooling. Tailored, stage-specific strategies that consider educational level and local context may strengthen maternal and reproductive health knowledge and improve outcomes for women and their children.