The latest research shows that preconception care may be the single most important aspect of effective maternal and child health care. It is the purpose of this memo to detail and summarize the importance of preconception care and note some ways they might be delivered.
There are three important aspects of preconception care:
Preconception risk entails the planning, spacing, and timing of pregnancy. Such illnesses as diabetes, malnutrition, adrenal hyperplasia, or phenylketonuria should be well controlled prior to pregnancy (Thompson, Francis, Kirby, & Compton, 1991, p. 1346). Counseling regarding human immunodeficiency virus or herpes is important prior to pregnancy. In addition to providing a baseline assessment of the individual's health, preconception risk assessment would allow us to identify
* individual and social conditions (extreme obesity, advanced maternal age, unusual diets, economic status, malnutrition (Garner, Kramer, & Chalmers, 1992, p. 1021; Torres-Pereyra, 1988, p. 385);
* unhealthy health habits (smoking, drugs, and alcohol use);
(Nutrition during pregnancy, 1990), p. 404.
* general medical condition (immunities, medications, genetics,
* barriers to family planning or early prenatal care (finances,
work demands, marital discord) (Lyden, 1998, p. 919).
It is very important for us to counsel women who are in the age groups of greatest risk. It is known that women under age 19 and women over 44 have a higher percentage of pregnancies involving aged gametes, resulting in pathological progeny. This can so easily be prevented with simple information made available to our clients who indicate that they are thinking of becoming pregnant (Taysi, 1988, p. 168).
It is also known that very short or very long intervals between pregnancies raise the likelihood of infant difficulties. Intelligent planning in this area with the prospective mothers can increase ...