title: [Preconception care].
abstract: Healthy mothers and children are the hope and dream of every country. Evidence shows that promoting health in women and couples before pregnancy can promote the health of their offspring. Hence, comprehensive healthcare for women should start before pregnancy (i.e., preconception care). Such represents an effective strategy to lessen adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States established in 2004 a working group to convene conferences addressing preconception care issues, which has since held two summit conferences (in 2005 and 2007) to develop recommendations and guidelines for improving preconception health and care. A new consensus on reproductive health promotion and protection as emerged. Preconception care, the primary preventive approach for women of reproductive age, works to identify and modify biomedical, behavioral, and social risks through preventive and management interventions. No national policy for preconception care currently exists in Taiwan. Hence, it is important to coordinate different resources related to preconception care available through schools, workplaces, outpatient service centers, families and the community in order to establish a uniform national policy and intervention programs that will further enhance the health of women and children in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Chang Jung Christin University, ROC.
authors.forename: Chao-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Pau-Chung
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016742:Preconception Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D016387:Women's Health