American
College of Nurse-Midwives Supports New CDC Preconception Care
Guidelines
SILVER SPRING, Md., April 21 /U.S.
Newswire/ -- New preconception care recommendations published
today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
will make an important contribution toward providing integrated
and evidence-based health care services to women considering
a future pregnancy, said the American College of Nurse-Midwives
(ACNM).
CDC goals for preconception care include:
-- improve the knowledge and attitudes and behaviors of men
and women related to preconception health;
-- assure that all women of childbearing age in the United States
receive preconception care services (i.e., evidence-based risk
screening, health promotion, and interventions) that will enable
them to enter pregnancy in optimal health;
-- reduce risks indicated by a previous adverse pregnancy outcome
through interventions during the inter-conception period, which
can prevent or minimize health problems for a mother and her
future children;
-- and reduce the disparities in adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Ann Weathersby, CNM, represented ACNM at the National Summit
on Preconception Care in 2005; a select panel from the summit
was charged with the development of the National Guidelines.
According to Weathersby, "Now, the challenge for all certified
nurse-midwives and certified midwives will be to incorporate
these new guidelines into their practice."
To help achieve this goal, the CDC, in collaboration with
the national partnering organizations, will convene workgroups
in June to review current knowledge and practices. The workgroups
expect to develop practice tools for dissemination in early 2007.
The ACNM Clinical Practice Section of the Division of Standards
and Practice will introduce the CDC recommendations at the ACNM
Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City and will produce a clinical
document that outlines the evidence and identifies tools that
can assist with implementation of these recommendations.
The provision of quality preconception care is one of the
hallmarks of midwifery care, as demonstrated by its prominence
in the ACNM documents Core Competencies for the Basic Midwifery
Practice and Standards for the Practice of Midwifery. The ACNM
position statement concerning primary care for women, states:
" ... the model of health care practiced by CNMs and
CMs is focused on the ambulatory care of women and newborns and
emphasizes health promotion, education and disease prevention
and sees the woman as central to the process of providing such
care. Care by CNMs and CMs includes preconception counseling,
care during pregnancy and childbirth, provision of gynecological
and contraceptive services and care of the peri- and post-menopausal
woman. With health education as a major focus, the goals are
to prevent problems and to assist women in developing and maintaining
healthy habits."
The new preconception care guidelines are available from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention online at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/.
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