Pregnancy and Motherhood is a beautiful experience. Being in optimal health before conception is crucial for a healthy pregnancy and positive reproductive outcomes. Preconception health is the state of a woman’s well-being before she conceives. It involves understanding how her health conditions and risk factors can affect her and her unborn baby. Preconception Care and counselling involve health-promoting education and guidance before conceiving,
which helps to have a healthy, safe, complications-free Pregnancy. The World Health Organization defines preconception care as a series of interventions designed to promote the health and well-being of women and couples, aiming to improve pregnancy and childbirth health outcomes. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out preconception care is relevant for all women of reproductive age.
Adolescence is a natural continuation of the phase of life before pregnancy. Counselling adolescents presents a valuable opportunity to encourage the adoption of healthy behavior's, promoting well-being during adolescence, adulthood, and beyond. An essential part of preconception care involves screening tests to rule out certain conditions like.
It is recommended that women take a daily supplement of 400-800 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid, either in the form of a prenatal or multivitamin, and eat a balanced diet rich in folate. By beginning folic acid supplementation before conception and continuing it through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, women can significantly reduce the chances of having a baby with a neural tube defect (NTD) such as anencephaly, spina bifida, or encephalocele.
Preconception care aims to improve pregnancy outcomes and women’s overall health by preventing disease and managing risk factors that could negatively impact pregnancy outcomes.
Planning to become pregnant and taking specific steps can help reduce pregnancy risks. It also ensures normal, healthy and safe pregnancy.
Preconception plan involves health-promoting education and guidance before conceiving for a healthy, safe, complication-free pregnancy. WHO defines it as interventions promoting the health and well-being of women/couples to improve pregnancy/childbirth outcomes. Includes screening tests, folic acid supplementation (400-800 mcg daily), investigating haematological/genetic disorders, planning pregnancy at the right age, and addressing risk factors.
The preconception stage is the period before conception, during which a woman's health and well-being are optimised. It involves understanding how health conditions and risk factors can affect the mother and the unborn baby. It includes health screenings, counselling, folic acid supplementation and addressing chronic conditions, as well as promoting healthy behaviours during adolescence and adulthood before pregnancy.
The risk factors assessed are haematological disorders, mental/cognitive disorders, genetic diseases, chronic medical conditions, infections, nutritional deficiencies, BMI issues, age-related complications, lifestyle factors, environmental exposures and previous pregnancy complications.
You can improve preconception health by taking folic acid supplements, maintaining an ideal BMI, getting screened for infections/genetic disorders/medical conditions, achieving immunity through vaccinations, planning pregnancy at the right age, modifying diet and lifestyle, avoiding smoking/alcohol/recreational drugs, managing chronic conditions and attending preconception counselling with healthcare providers.
