Don’t Neglect Preconception Healthcare for a Healthy Baby

Most women do not know that they may be pregnant until they are menstruating, but by this time the fertilized egg has already entered the embryonic organogenesis period (usually 6-8 weeks of pregnancy, when vital organs begin to develop and form), and it is very easy to unknowingly cause negligible damage to the early embryo. Especially in recent years, environmental pollution and the increase in the number of cases of early pregnancy embryonic termination, preconception problems are increasingly becoming one of the potential influencing factors. Therefore, a good preconception counseling and examination is of great significance for the birth of a healthy and smart baby. The main contents of preconception counseling include: history of past diseases, history of taking medication, history of vaccination, working and living environment, lifestyle and mental and psychological state, etc. Whether or not it has any effect on pregnancy. The main contents of pre-pregnancy examination include: 1. Testing for teratogenic viruses: Common teratogenic viruses include cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis (with a high prevalence in women who own pets), rubella virus, herpes virus and microvirus. These viruses usually cause fetal mental, hearing, or congenital heart disease, cataracts and intrauterine growth retardation. However, the infection of these viruses is mainly hidden infection, and there may not be any symptoms after infection, or just a transient symptom similar to a mild cold, which is not easy to be detected. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out screening before pregnancy to make sure that it is not an infected period before getting pregnant. 2. Screening for reproductive tract infections: Reproductive tract infections include vaginitis, cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease. Bacteria and viruses that cause inflammation can cause miscarriage or abnormal embryonic development, so it is important to rule out and treat reproductive tract infections before pregnancy; 3. Screening for major mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) diseases: HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B can be transmitted from mother to child, so pre-pregnancy assessment should be conducted and necessary interventions should be carried out to minimize the rate of mother-to-child transmission; 4. Screening for hereditary diseases: thalassemia, the gene for deafness and the use of folic acid. Genetic screening is intervenable, so screening before pregnancy can be done early to plan for intervention. 5, pre-pregnancy folic acid application counseling: folic acid is a key nutrient for fetal neurodevelopment, if the mothers-to-be lack of folic acid may lead to newborn neural tube malformations. Fetal brain development is the earliest and most rapid, early pregnancy (3-4 weeks) is the critical period of fetal central nervous system development, this period of rapid brain cell proliferation, the most susceptible to teratogenic factors. Folic acid supplementation: 0.4mg per day from 3 months before pregnancy to 3 months of pregnancy; if the utilization of folic acid is impaired or there is a history of adverse pregnancy and childbirth, women need to take 1 capsule per day, that is, 0.8mg. 6, screening for internal diseases: thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism), chronic hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, blood diseases and liver disease can cause abnormal embryonic development or miscarriage, so it is necessary to carry out the relevant examinations before pregnancy. Therefore, pre-pregnancy tests are also needed to rule out and treat these diseases early.