Preconception Health and Care Strategies
Summary
Preconception health encompasses a range of biomedical, behavioural and social interventions delivered before conception to optimise outcomes for mothers, infants and future generations. Effective strategies include nutritional supplementation, chronic disease management, lifestyle modification and reduction of environmental risks. Central to this approach is reproductive life planning, which engages individuals and couples in informed decision-making about timing of pregnancy, contraceptive use and health behaviours throughout the reproductive life course. By tailoring interventions to diverse populations and settings, integrating community education, digital tools and clinical services, preconception care aims to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity, mitigate long-term chronic disease risk and address health inequalities. System-level support, multidisciplinary training for health-care professionals and innovative delivery models are essential to ensure equitable access and sustainable impact.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Preconception Health and Care Strategies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in preconception health and care strategies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Preconception care: Biomedical, behavioural and social health interventions provided to individuals and couples before conception to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Reproductive life planning: A structured approach to help people consider and plan the timing and conditions of pregnancy in relation to personal goals and health status.
Interconception period: The interval between pregnancies when health interventions can optimise outcomes for subsequent pregnancies.
mHealth platform: A mobile health technology used to deliver health education, behaviour-change support and monitoring through smartphones or tablets.
References
- Addressing reproductive health needs across the life course: an integrated, community-based model combining contraception and preconception care. The Lancet Public Health (2023).
- Addressing Preconception Behavior Change Through Mobile Phone Apps: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2023).
- Exploring Health Behaviours, Attitudes and Beliefs of Women and Men during the Preconception and Interconception Periods: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adults on the Island of Ireland. Nutrients (2023).
- Preconception care: closing the gap in the continuum of care to accelerate improvements in maternal, newborn and child health. Reproductive Health (2014).
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.