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Advancing Preconception Health Globally: A Way Forward

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Preconception Health and Care: A Life Course Approach

Abstract

Preconception health is a simple yet comprehensive concept that provides a significant opportunity to prevent chronic disease, reduce the risks of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, and improve the health of two generations. Given that well-being begins early in life and is important for all people to achieve their full potential, preconception interventions are just one part of a larger call for a life course approach to population health. The global inequitable distribution of access to medical and mental health care, housing, education, economic mobility, rights, safety, nutritious food, and other needed resources to achieve health and wellness presents a major challenge to this work. At the same time, the two-generational potential offered by focusing on the sensitive period of development that preconception health represents provides a unique forum for taking key steps forward in advancing preventive health and care. This chapter offers several potential directions for advancing preconception and preventive health for people of reproductive age.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Maternal and Infant Health, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sarah Verbiest

  2. Jordan Institute for Families, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sarah Verbiest

  3. Faculty of Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    Jill Shawe

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Eric A. P. Steegers

Authors
  1. Sarah Verbiest
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  2. Jill Shawe
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  3. Eric A. P. Steegers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Verbiest .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, UK

    Jill Shawe

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Eric A.P. Steegers

  3. Center for Maternal and Infant Health, Jordan Institute for Families, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sarah Verbiest

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Verbiest, S., Shawe, J., Steegers, E.A.P. (2020). Advancing Preconception Health Globally: A Way Forward. In: Shawe, J., Steegers, E., Verbiest, S. (eds) Preconception Health and Care: A Life Course Approach. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31753-9_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31753-9_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31752-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31753-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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