Recently, the importance of modifying environmental factors prior to conception has been recognized as this can possibly prevent the incidence of different mental and physical health conditions. It is said that these environmental factors interact with our genome to maintain health or cause illness, that is why it is very important that we try to modify it in such a way that can influence our health in a good way instead of causing possible health problems. Under the environmental domain, there are only two determinants which make up the whole domain which includes: (1) are we getting what we need, and; (2) are we being exposed to things that are toxic. The first determinant refers to the requirements of our body to grow and these include the basic needs for survival such as water, air, food with adequate nutrients, etc. While the second determinant refers to the things or activities that we should avoid to maintain optimal health which includes smoking tobacco, chemical and biological hazards, etc.
Preconception care is of particular importance because the only time when a pregnant client goes for a check-up is during prenatal period, more specifically during the end or near the end of their 1st trimester. In this case, the fetus had already undergone several important developments such as formation of different major organs, thus the first trimester is a very crucial period for the development of the fetus. So, preconception care is important to caution the parents about the different things that they should avoid to prevent the possible abnormalities that the fetus can acquire from those harmful things, practices and behaviors. They should also be taught about the requirements to support the proper growth and development of the fetus.
Moreover, preconception care is also important because it is more difficult for the parents to start making modifications to their lifestyle during the pregnancy. This is because women feel more fatigue and less than optimal during the 1st trimester. However, if they were educated about the changes that they have to make prior to pregnancy they will be able to plan and prepare for it so that they will be able to support the growth of the fetus and avoid possible exposure to different teratogens. One example of this is taking folic acid prior to conception to prevent neural tube defect in the fetus.
Another reason is that, some interventions are not recommended during pregnancy but are needed and important prior to conception to improve outcome such interventions include some immunizations and detoxification. In this case, preconception care becomes a very important time for these interventions to be carried out in order to optimize outcomes of pregnancy.
The last reason why preconception care is important is because some medical conditions and pharmaceutical use are best addressed prior to pregnancy, which includes controlling mother’s diabetes, use of antidepressant medications, etc., and may need time to be addressed effectively such as smoking cessation and alcohol or drug use.
Reference:
Genuis, S. J., & Genuis, R. A. (2016). Preconception care: A new standard of care within maternal health services. Biomedical Research International. http://dx.doi.org/10.155/2016/6150976