Meeting Report: Ethical Issues Surrounding Preconception Care

Background: Embryonic and fetal development are key determinants for pregnancy outcomes and life-long health. Preconception care aims to identify, manage and counteract risk factors to prevent or limit the impediment of this development. Moreover, it provides an excellent opportunity to improve couples informed decision-making by providing information on reproductive choices. Unfortunately, in most countries the uptake of PCC remains low. Moreover, it is usually provided infrequently and on an opportunistic basis. Objective: In response to the high prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially among vulnerable women, and the poor uptake of PCC, an international and interdisciplinary expert meeting was organized in October 2016. The objective was to (i) discuss the key barriers in the provision, uptake and implementation of preconception care, (ii) to explore the gaps in current research and (iii) to explore the potential of new scientific insights to further improve pregnancy outcomes. Results: This report presents the most important outcomes of this meeting. These include the provision of tailor-made care; the definition and distribution of roles and responsibilities of caregivers; the inclusion of fertility counseling in preconception care and the development of pathways that cut across the medical and non-medical domains.