Preconception Education for Women Over Forty

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Teaching Plan for Healthy People 2020, MICH-16.1 Preconception education for women over forty years old

The community health problem identified by Healthy People 2020 (2013) indicates a need for education that “increases the proportion of women delivering a live birth who discussed preconception health with a health care worker prior to pregnancy” (p. 3). My teaching plan will focus on women over 40 years old. The focus of preconception care has evolved over time. Preconception care had focused on women who had previously had an unfavorable pregnancy outcome. Barry (2011) states, “preconception care should be discussed with every woman at every opportunity” (p. 68-74).
The goal of preconception care according to Barry (2011) is “to provide health promotion, screening and interventions for women of reproductive age to reduce the risk factors that might affect future pregnancies” (p. 68-74). Half of all pregnancies are unintended. Preconception care is usually provided to women who have planned a pregnancy and seek preconception care. A reproductive life plan is recommended for all child bearing aged couples. Reproductive life plans will provide counseling and address specific issues in the individual plan.
The nurse should recognize the importance of initiating conversations about reproductive life with their patients.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “preconception care interventions are aimed at identifying and modifying biomedical, behavioral and social risks to a woman’s health or pregnancy outcome through prevention and management” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). The goal is to optimize the health of women before conception to maximize the health of h...

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 Family history, teach the importance of letting their physician know what kind of diseases or problems family members have had. Spend fifteen minutes talking about genetics and how this could affect their pregnancy and the live birth of their baby.
 Teach about substance abuse, how alcohol and smoking can affect a fetus. Teach the importance of stopping these substances during preconception as well as during pregnancy. Spend ten minutes going over the risk factors, show statistics of babies with fetal alcohol syndrome, low-birth weight babies and the risks of premature labor.
If women over 40 participate in preconception counseling to overcome any barriers they

may have, and if they also follow the goals and objectives along with the key elements

taught, these women should increase their chances of having a healthy pregnancy and a

live birth.

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