Preconception Care App, supporting the integration of preconception care into primary care

Preconception healthcare focus on things women who plan to have a baby can do before and between pregnancies in order to increase the chances of having a healthy baby. Some women need only a few months to get their body ready for pregnancy, while for other women, this might take a lot longer. Preconception healthcare, however, is not only focused on women who want to get pregnant, but also helps those women who don't want to have a baby.

While it helps first getting pregnant and having a healthy baby, it also teaches later on how to achieve their own goals, for example how to use effective birth control methods, or how to take better care of their reproductive and sexual health.

Whatever group you may belong, talking to your doctor about preconception healthcare is important, especially before getting pregnant. Doctors will talk about your health history and any medical conditions you currently have that could affect a pregnancy. They will also discuss any previous pregnancy problems with you, as well as medicines that you currently are taking, or vaccinations that you might need.

Healthcare professionals can help you with counseling, treatment and support regarding your lifestyle and behaviors that might affect your pregnancy, and teach you about steps you can take before getting pregnant to prevent certain birth defects.

Preconception healthcare is one of the most important aspects of women's health that somehow still remains overlooked. The reason for this is that medical schools or medical residencies do not include preconception healthcare in their curriculum.

As a result, many women remain uninformed and not properly counseled about steps and actions they could do to prepare for pregnancy. Most of them only learn about it when they show up for their first visit, which usually happens at 8-10 weeks of gestation, when most organogenesis has occurred.

Since medical providers play an essential role in preconception healthcare, it's equally essential that they be well informed on the matter. There are many resources available for preconception healthcare, but most of them are scattered all over the journals and books, such as bulletins and articles published by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) or National Curriculum on Preconception Care, which is available for free.

Having these resources at one place, especially in mobile app form would be perfect. That's why the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) made another addition to the number of their amazing and free medical apps that cover a wide variety of topics.

Preconception Care is the medical app they released in 2015 with the goal to provide primary care teams and patients with valid and current information to support the integration of preconception care into comprehensive primary care, in order to optimize the health of women of reproductive age (both Veterans and those who are not).

All the information in Preconception Care app is supported by provider-centered resources that address a variety of factors, including patient's reproductive history, health status, family and genetic history and risks, medication and birth control usage, vaccinations received, and lifestyle factors.

So, how Preconception app can be useful? Let's take a look at following clinical scenarios.

Imagine that you have a patient in her mid-twenties with the history of hyperthyroidism who wants to get pregnant. Or a patient who is interested in having another child, but her last pregnancy was complicated by gestational diabetes, or a patient in her late thirties who wants to get pregnant for the first time, but has the history of genetic disorder in her family. What if your patient or her partner smokes? What if she takes medications or recreational drugs? How would you advise these patients regarding preparing for conception?

The Preconception Care app offers useful information and guidance that covers most of the topics and questions that may appear during patient's visits prior to conception.

These include reproductive life plan (if the patient plans to have more children in the future or not), reproductive history (any known problems or complications that occurred during previous pregnancies), birth control methods (from extremely to less effective), patient's concurrent medical and mental health issues, family and genetic history and risk, lifestyle factors, medications use, partner's health, and so on.

While its design won't take your breath away, Preconception Care app is highly functional app that provides amazing amount of information that is concise and well-referenced.

All the information comes from many authority resources including the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), CDC, ACOG, AHRQ, and it's intended for both providers and patients. Resource links open outside the app and lead to external websites, so you'd need to have Internet connection enabled.

I can only conclude that the Preconception Care app is amazing medical app with plethora of resources designed for both providers and patients. It fills the important need by bringing preconception counseling to the primary care with the goal to ensure that women of reproductive age get the best possible care.

Benefit: Any medical professional who provides preconception counseling and/or care would find this app useful