Discuss how preconception care contributes to a healthy pregnancy and positive pregnancy outcomes.
Preconception care aims to prevent disease and manage a pregnant woman's risk factors that might affect her pregnancy. Its goal is to improve and maintain a pregnant woman’s optimal health by providing interventions that would reduce maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Failure to support a healthy pregnancy may result in varying nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy that may have profound effects not only on the mother’s health but also on the overall wellbeing of her child.
For instance, Genuis (2016) specified folate deficiency increases the risk of neural tube defects, miscarriage, and Down syndrome. Other micronutrient deficiencies also elevate the possibility of acquiring cognitive and immune impairment in offspring, or pediatric hypothyroidism and intellectual disabilities. Vitamin deficiency, such as Vitamin D deficiency, also poses serious health risks as this could result in pregnancy loss during the first trimester, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and emergency Cesarean delivery, among others.
So to speak, preconception care is not limited to women who are planning to get pregnant. Practicing preconception care even when plans for pregnancy is not yet present will aid in ensuring that the mother will live a healthy life. A mother who is healthy knows the value of maintaining physical fitness, so this knowledge is an added security that she knows and understands the essence of providing adequate nutritional care to the baby and raising its health to the optimum.
Reference:
Genuis, S. J. (2016, May 29). Preconception Care: A New Standard of Care within Maternal Health Services. Hindawi. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2016/6150976/