Preconception Care Program

Good preconception health is simply good health for a woman of child bearing age whether she is planning to get pregnant or not. It is called preconception health because it also happens to be the level of health that will give the woman her healthiest baby if she decides to conceive. Remember 50 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned.

Preconception Care is care that allows a woman to work with her health care provider to get her in her best preconception health. Among the areas covered under preconception care are:

1. eating a good diet,
2. participating in healthy physical activity,
3. getting care for health problems (such as high blood pressure or Diabetes),
4. avoiding tobacco, alcohol and drug misuse,
5. waiting sufficient time between pregnancies, and
6. getting routine health check-ups and screenings.

When a woman is healthy before pregnancy, her baby has an increased chance of being born healthy too.

The Preconception Care Program provides enhanced reproductive health care for women. Services are targeted to women who:

• had a preterm birth, low birth weight baby, an infant death, stillbirth or fetal death,
• live in certain zip codes,
• are African American/Black women,
• are Medicaid eligible, medically underinsured, or uninsured,
• have chronic diseases including hypertension and diabetes,
• have psychosocial risk factors, or
• are in need of increased social supports.

Services provided under this program include:

• Access to preconception care for women which includes but is not limited to:
  • reproductive health services,
  • psycho-social needs,
  • nutrition counseling,
  • contraceptive education and counseling,
  • pregnancy diagnosis and counseling,
  • access to a broad range of contraceptive methods,
  • testing and treatment for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) including Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis,
  • testing and treatment referral for Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS),
  • Level 1 infertility counseling
  • Genetics information, education and referral
• Screening for alcohol, drug, and tobacco use and referral to smoking cessation and drug treatment programs
• Trained community support services personnel to provide street level outreach, reinforce patient education and assist patients with social service needs
• Social work services to address family psychosocial needs
• Nutrition services including basic nutrition counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, folic acid education and specialized counseling for patients with chronic diseases or pregnancy induced complications which may result in poor birth outcomes
• Oral health education and referral

For more information contact:

• Return to the Infant Mortality Elimination Program homepage