Prenatal care should sometimes begin even before you are pregnant. A preconceptual (or prepregnancy) consultation is a physician consultation that is performed before a woman gets pregnant. There are many different reasons for scheduling such a consultation. These reasons may include a prior pregnancy that was complicated by premature labor, preeclampsia, or a baby with a birth defect, etc. In these cases, the discussion would center on the causes of such complications, the recurrence risk of such complications, what changes in pregnancy management may be necessary to make recurrence less likely or, if there are no such interventions, the type of monitoring treatments that can be done to minimize the impact of these complications.
A prepregnancy consultation may also be prudent if a mom has medical problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure. In these cases, the discussion would center on both the impact of the medical problem on pregnancy and the impact of pregnancy on the medical problem. In addition, if it is a medical problem that requires a medication regimen, the types of medications that are safe in pregnancy will be discussed and changes in medications can be made prior to pregnancy so that your baby is not exposed to any dangerous medications once you become pregnant.
It is best to try to plan your pregnancy so that any medical or other issues can be addressed prior to getting pregnant. Your primary caregiver can help you decide whether it would be advisable to have such a consultation prior to attempting pregnancy.
