BACKGROUND Preconception care involves health promotion to reduce risk factors that might affect women and couples of childbearing age. The risk factors of adverse reproductive outcomes include recognized genetic diseases in the family or the individual, previous congenital diseases, miscarriage, prematurity, fetal growth restriction, infertility, chronic maternal diseases, lifestyle, and occup...

There is a growing evidence base for preconception care--the provision of biomedical, behavioral and social interventions to women and couples before conception occurs. Firstly, there is evidence that health problems, problem behaviours and individual and environmental risks contribute to poor maternal and child health outcomes. Secondly, there are biomedical, behavioural and social interventio...

Background: Preconception health has become an integral part of global maternal and child health, whereas preconception care has been recognized as the next frontier for improving pregnancy outcomes. The literature shows that the language surrounding the concept of preconception health and care is mainly focused on risk factors and often confined within the biomedicine-oriented risk reduction f...

The aim of the conference was to promote further international cooperation and knowledge sharing amongst researchers. By means of a generous grant from The Swedish Research Council to cover travel costs for invited keynote speakers it became possible for us to plan and realize the conference. Preconception care is a set of interventions intended to identify and to modify biomedical, behavioural...

I am writing in reference to the article ‘Does preconception care work?’ by Beckmann and coworkers. I support the authors’ aim of improving perinatal outcome and it seems intuitive that preconception care involving the reduction of maternal risk factors would achieve a healthier outcome for mother and baby. However, before funding preconception counselling, one needs to be sure that it works. T...

BACKGROUND To date, there is a lack of evidence to suggest that a systematic and coordinated approach to prepregnancy care might make a difference. AIMS To evaluate whether women who receive preconception care through a structured approach will be more likely to be healthy around the time of conception compared with women who plan their pregnancy but have not been exposed to preconception car...

Concept of preconception care, ‘care before pregnancy’, has emerged in recent years, as a potentially vital tool, not only for improving adolescent girls’ and women’s health during pregnancy, birth, but also future health. Objective: Study was done to collect information, about preconception care for better pregnancy outcome, future health of women. Methodology: Information was collected by sim...

This paper examines the evolution and current role of Medicaid in improving access to preconception care for low-income women. The authors review Medicaid's eligibility policy and benefits of relevance to women of reproductive age and discuss various approaches to promote preconception care in Medicaid. The challenges facing the program and potential opportunities to use the program to promote ...

BACKGROUND Despite strong evidence of the benefits of preconception interventions to improve pregnancy outcomes, the delivery and uptake of preconception care in general and periconceptional folate supplementation in particular remains low. The aim of this study was to determine women's views of the barriers and enablers to the uptake of preconception care and periconceptional folate supplement...

Many vaccine-preventable diseases have serious consequences for the pregnant mother, the fetus, and the neonate. This article reviews the rationale and impact of including vaccinations as part of preconception care and provides recommendations for clinical care. Vaccinations that are recommended highly in preconception care include the hepatitis B and the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines. T...