Preconceptional Care and Counseling

The Challenge

In many ways, prenatal care is the prototypical example of preventive medicine. Preconceptional care is directed toward ensuring the optimal health of the prospective mother and doing those things that will remove preventable impediments to a healthy outcome for the pregnancy. The care these women receive during this and the prenatal phase of their lives is critical to both their health and the success of the pregnancy.

• Scope of the Problem: In the United States, approximately 4 million women give birth each year, and more than 90% of American women will bear children during their lifetime. Twenty percent or more of women have one or more risk factors that could adversely affect a pregnancy if not addressed. Therefore, women who receive delayed (after 12 weeks of pregnancy) or no prenatal care are at a risk for having undetected or preventable complications of pregnancy that can result in significant maternal or fetal morbidity or mortality.

• Objectives of Management: To protect the health and well-being of mother, fetus, and neonate through screening and optimizing a woman’s health and knowledge before conceiving a pregnancy.