All women and men of reproductive age will achieve optimal health and wellness, fostering a healthy life course for them and any children they may have.The National Preconception Health and Health Care (PCHHC) was created as a public-private partnership of over 70 organizations focused on improving the health of young adults and any children they may choose to have. The vision is that all people of reproductive age will achieve optimal health and wellness, fostering a healthy life course for them and any children they may have. The Initiative is currently considering a rebrand and will be developing new plans later this Fall 2021.
The Initiative’s Goals are to…
- Improve the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of men and women related to reproductive and preventive health. We recognize that knowledge alone is inadequate for making change – people need to be supported by healthy and safe living environments, have access to meaningful education and employment with a liveable wage, have a community of family and friends, have access to health care, have policies that support working parents and people with young children, and have a sense of personal agency to make change.
- All pregnancies happen to people who are in a place to be receptive and ready to be parents.
- Build health equity and eliminate disparities in health outcomes.
- Ensure that all women and men of reproductive age receive equitable, respectful, quality services that enable them to achieve high levels of wellness, minimize risks and be well. This care will also support them in entering any pregnancy they might have wish to have in optimal health.
- Reduce risks among women who have had a prior adverse maternal, fetal or infant outcome through interventions during the postpartum / interconception period. Reduce risks among women living with chronic conditions.
PCHHC is coordinated by the Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health, housed within the School of Medicine and the Jordan Institute for Families, housed within the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Past support for the Initiative’s core operations has been provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Current work is supported by the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau through the Preconception Health Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Prevent Infant Mortality. As the Initiative seeks to expand its work, additional funding partners are needed.
Healthy People 2020 Objectives include a focus on preconception health in the Maternal, Infant and Child Health (MICH) objectives (14-16). Click here to review. Further, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA has identified increasing attendance at an annual well woman visit as one of its national performance measures aimed at improving preconception health. Click here to learn more.
