Preconception Care: A Concept Analysis of an Evolving Paradigm.
Yared Asmare Aynalem, Pauline Paul, Joanne Olson and 2 others
PMID 39791592WHAT IT FOUND
Preconception care is described here as care before pregnancy for anyone who may become pregnant, not only women planning conception.
It covers lifestyle, mental health, social and environmental risks, and spans childhood and the time between pregnancies.
Key findings
01The paper proposes a working definition of preconception care as proactive care before pregnancy for individuals and populations, considering biological, preference, public health and intergenerational factors.
02The analysis groups preconception care attributes into period-related, target population-related and pathway-related categories.
03It states that preconception care should target people regardless of gender and reproductive capacities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It is a concept analysis, not a trial or systematic review of patient outcomes, so it cannot show that any preconception care intervention improves health. The search was limited to English full-text reports from 2012 to 2024 and excluded inaccessible full texts. Only 40 of 166 eligible publications were analysed, selected by taking every fourth study from a randomly chosen starting point. One reviewer independently performed screening and extraction, while senior reviewers reviewed the outcomes; this may not capture all errors in initial screening. The authors note that the qualitative nature of concept analysis may carry inherent bias, and that excluding printed media, interviews and verbal language may affect understanding.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. No funding statement is provided in the article text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this concept analysis as evidence that preconception care improves pregnancy or child health outcomes. It synthesises how the term has been defined and what attributes, antecedents and consequences are described in the literature, but it does not test an intervention in patients.