Adolescent Health and Preconception Care - Discussion for the month

Groups » Adolescent Health and Preconception Care - Discussion for the month

Worldwide in 2010, 287000 women died, with many more suffering long-term disability, from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In the same year, globally 3.1 million newborn babies died in their first month of life, while 14.9 million were born prematurely and 2.7 million were stillborn. There is widespread agreement that a continuum of care approach is necessary to further reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths. At present, this continuum extends from pregnancy and childbirth, to the postnatal period (for both mothers and neonates), through early childhood. A gap remains in this continuum, particularly for adolescent girls and young women, who often receive little or no healthcare from age five until their first pregnancy. Recently adolesdcent health and preconception care has been widely advocated. It is suggested that preconception care completes the continuum, ensuring ongoing health surveillance and early intervention, so that women begin pregnancy in the best health possible. Interventions that optimize women’s health before pregnancy with the intent to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes are collectively termed preconception care. A recent series on Preconception Care (http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/supplements/11/S3) highlights the possible impact of preconception care for adolescents, women and couples of reproductive age on MNCH outcomes. This month, we are also fortunate to have one of the key persons from this Series, Zohra S Lassi, available with us for questions and comments. We welcome all the members to join this discussion and put forward their comments and questions on the idea of "Preconception Care". Feel free to add comments or refer to your work in this area.