Abstract
Effects of preconception care and periconception interventions on maternal nutritional status and birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.
Highlights
Awareness of the possibility for influencing preconception health to maximize benefits for mothers and babies started upon the release of a ground-breaking report from the Centre for Disease Control [1].Following this, the World Health Organization (WHO) gathered experts to discuss how preconception care could potentially have a positive impact on maternal and child health outcomes, where the experts overwhelmingly agreed with this proposal [2]
The general objective was to assess how effective the following pre- and periconception interventions were at improving maternal nutrition, birth, and neonatal outcomes in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) when compared with no/standard intervention in terms of (1) interventions to delay the age at first pregnancy, (2) interventions to optimize inter-pregnancy intervals, (3) periconception folic acid supplementation, and (4) periconception iron folic acid supplementation
While there is a growing body of evidence in support of the provision of preconception care, the effectiveness of interventions to delay the age of first pregnancy, optimize birth intervals, and to provide periconception folic acid and iron-folic acid supplementation warrant further inquiry
Summary
Awareness of the possibility for influencing preconception health to maximize benefits for mothers and babies started upon the release of a ground-breaking report from the Centre for Disease Control [1].Following this, the World Health Organization (WHO) gathered experts to discuss how preconception care could potentially have a positive impact on maternal and child health outcomes, where the experts overwhelmingly agreed with this proposal [2]. Preconception care involves women’s health and its optimization prior to planning conception, and this strategy is consistently recognized as an important tool to improve both maternal and child health [4] This period is the opportune time to integrate interventions relating to lifestyle factors, including nutrition, to promote health and to guarantee appropriate preparation for pregnancy. Considering the known importance of preconception care, it is apparent that there is currently a missed opportunity in the system of care, especially for young girls entering their reproductive years and women who are not pregnant. Until their first pregnancy, their health and wellbeing receive scarce, if any, attention.
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