PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dwenda K. Gjerdingen
AU  - Patricia Fontaine
TI  - Preconception Health Care: A Critical Task For Family Physicians
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.4.4.237
DP  - 1991 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
PG  - 237--250
VI  - 4
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/4/4/237.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/4/4/237.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med1991 Jul 01; 4
AB  - Health care leaders in the United States have recently advised that preconception care be made available to all prospective parents because health in pregnancy depends on health status prior to pregnancy. Prenatal care usually begins after the early critical period of pregnancy has passed, and optimal early prenatal care can be achieved only through preconception care. Family physicians, who are ideally suited to provide this care, can readily integrate it into the routine health maintenance they currently provide for their patients of childbearing age. This review highlights components of the medical, family, and social histories, current health, and physical examination that are important to preconception health. There is good evidence that attention to patients’ health needs before conception is related to improved perinatal outcomes.