Preconception and Pregnancy

Professional Resource Guide

Introduction

This professional resource guide directs readers to a selection of current, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe effective programs, and report on policy and research aimed at improving access to and quality of preconception and prenatal care to improve perinatal health outcomes. This professional resource guide can be used by health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers to learn more about preconception and pregnancy, for program development, and to locate training resources and information to answer specific questions. A separate brief lists resources for families. This professional resource guide has been developed by the MCH Digital Library at Georgetown University and will be updated periodically. View Related MCH Digital Library Resources for guides about childbirth, fertility and infertility, medications, nutrition during preconception and pregnancy, and more.

Resources for Professionals

Websites

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. Links to evidence reports and research findings about maternal health and pregnancy.
  
  
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Information and materials about preconception and pregnancy for health professionals. Topics include health care for underserved women; perinatal HIV; maternal mortality; diabetes and pregnancy; tobacco, alcohol, and substance abuse; and women with disabilities. Note: Some resources on the website are accessible to members only. Web accessible resources include
  
  Immunization for Women. Updates and advisories on immunizations for adult and adolescent women, including those who are pregnant and breastfeeding. Includes information on seasonal flu and other vaccine-preventable diseases, immunization safety fact sheets, recommended immunization schedules, and practice-management guidelines.
  
  
• Before, Between, and Beyond Pregnancy: The National Preconception Curriculum and Resources Guide for Clinicians. Continuing education modules, descriptions of state plans and programs for preconception and interconception care, news, key articles and guidance for specific high-risk conditions, and practice supports for physicians, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, and physicians' assistants.
  
  
• Centering Healthcare Institute: Centering Pregnancy. Information about this model for group prenatal care that integrates health assessment, education, and support to empower women to choose health-promoting behaviors. Includes a bibliography of research and evaluation studies and video clips about the model.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
  Division of Reproductive Health. Links to reports, data, and other resources about preconception and pregnancy, including pregnancy-related complications, tobacco use, folic acid consumption, and emergency preparedness and response.
  
  National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). Scientific publications and tools, guidelines, educational materials, an electronic discussion group, and information about research projects and public health campaigns to prevent birth defects. Topics include preconception care, folic acid consumption, preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies, medication use during pregnancy, diabetes and pregnancy, using family history information in obstetrics and pediatrics, preventing infections during pregnancy, and genetics counseling.
  
  Other resources and initiatives about preconception and pregnancy from CDC:
  
  Group B Strep. Guidelines, clinical tools, and patient-education materials for obstetric and neonatal health professionals and laboratory professionals about preventing perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease.
  
  Guidelines for Vaccinating Pregnant Women. Information about vaccinating pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding.
  
  Challenges preventing HIV, viral hepatitis, and syphilis during pregnancy. Resources for health professionals to help encourage universal voluntary prenatal testing for HIV, viral hepatitis, and syphilis during pregnancy.
  
  Also see CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), Pregnancy Surveillance System (PNSS), and VitalStats.
  
  
• CityMatCH. Tools and resources for implementing initiatives to support the improvement of local perinatal HIV systems, mobilize urban communities to reduce infant mortality and pregnancy loss, and reduce racial inequities in infant mortality in urban communities.
  
  
• Global Library of Women's Medicine. Peer-reviewed clinical information and guidance on women's health for health professionals. Includes surgical video clips, diagnostic atlases, information about laboratory tests, patient-education materials, and a special section on safer motherhood.
  
  
• Healthy People 2030. National health-promotion and disease-prevention initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Sesarch for objectives and recommended interventions and resources for family planning and maternal, infant, and child health, as it relates to pregnancy planning, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, pregnancy health and behaviors, and preconception health and behaviors.
  
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): Women's Health Policy. Fact sheets, issue briefs, meeting materials, and data for policymakers, journalists, advocates, and public health professionals about women's reproductive health and access to care, including pregnancy-related care.
  
  
• March of Dimes (MOD). Perinatal statistics, educational tools, research and medical reference information, and patient-education materials on topics that include preconception, pregnancy, prenatal screening, and genetics.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Information about MCHB's projects and initiatives on behalf of America's women, infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Initiatives include Healthy Start, a program to address factors contributing to infant mortality, low birthweight, and other adverse perinatal outcomes in high-risk populations, and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, a federal, state, and community collaboration to improve health and development outcomes for children who are at risk through evidence-based home-visiting programs.
  
  
• National Healthy Start Association (NHSA). Information and news about the federal Healthy Start program and its efforts to address infant mortality, infants with low birthweights, and racial disparities in perinatal outcomes.
  
  
• Reproductive Health National Training Center (RHNTC). Resources for Title X family planning grantees and agencies to deliver reproductive health services to the Title X community and beyond.
  
  
• Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Gateway. A wealth of resources for health and social services professionals, including professionals who work on SIDS/ID issues, first responders, and child care providers, as well as for families about risk reduction and bereavement support for pregnancy loss and sudden and unexpected infant and child death. Resources include research bibliographies, statistics, Spanish-language materials, a multimedia collection, a resource database, journal article summaries, and a training toolkit. Presented by the MCH Digital Library at Georgetown University.
  
  
• University of North Carolina (UNC) Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health. Preconception and pregnancy research and program information, algorithms for the management of high-risk pregnancies, screening protocols and policies, and patient-education materials in English and Spanish on pregnancy topics, genetics, and serious pregnancy and fetal conditions.
  
  

Reports, Guides, and Other Resources

The MCH Digital Library has a large collection of publications and other resources about preconception and pregnancy. To view them, search the library's catalog MCHLine® using the search form. Type preconception in the keyword field and set publication date limits. Click on Search MCHLine to get your results. Conduct a separate search by typing pregnancy in the keyword field and setting publication date limits.. There will be some overlap in the search results. Conduct yet another search by typing "prenatal care" in the keyword field and setting publication date limits.. Again, there will be some overlap in the search results. Add keywords to further refine your search, using terms such as access, "pregnancy outcome", and childbirth. Include quotation marks as indicated.

Search the following databases for access to data and statistics about preconception and pregnancy. The MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics, describes these databases and offers tips for searching them.
Guttmacher Institute Data Center
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP): HCUPnet
Healthy People 2030: Data Sources and Methods
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
National Center for Health Statistics (NCSH): Surveys and Data Collection Systems
National Vital Statistics Reports
PeriStats
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
Title V Information System (TVIS)
VitalStats

Search the following databases for access to additional literature and research about preconception and pregnancy. The MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases describes these databases and offers tips for searching them.
Bioethics Research Library Databases
ClinicalTrials.gov
Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) Databases
Healthy People 2030 Evidence-Based Resources
Healthy Start Toolkit
Maternal and Child Health Research Program: Funded Projects Search
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series
National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT)
POPLINE® (POPulation information onLINE)
PubMed
TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network)

Search the following databases for information about additional programs focusing on preconception and pregnancy. The MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases, describes these databases and offers tips for searching them.
Discretionary Grant Information System (DGIS)
Health Care Innovations Exchange
Health Services Research Projects in Progress (HSRProj)
MCH Organizations Database

News and Commentary

• National Healthy Start Association (NHSA).
  
  Healthy from the Start. This blog offers updates about NHSA work and news from the MCH community about efforts to eliminate infant mortality, low birthweight, and racial disparities.
  
  

Resources for Families

• See the MCH Digital Library family resource brief Preconception and Pregnancy for links to resources for care, services, and support before and during pregnancy and websites about preconception and pregnancy. A separate section lists websites for pregnant adolescents.
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting resource brief
• Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Assisted Reproductive Technologies resource brief
• Breastfeeding resource brief
• Childbirth resource brief
• Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families professional resource guide
• Depression During and After Pregnancy professional resource guide, family resource brief
• Environmental Health resource brief
• Fatherhood resource brief
• Fertility and Infertility resource brief
• Genetics resource brief
• Health Insurance and Access to Care for Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Home Visiting resource brief
• Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss professional resource guide, family resource brief
• Intimate Partner Violence professional resource guide, family resource brief
• Maternal Distress in the Perinatal Period and Child Outcomes professional resource guide
• Medications resource brief
• Nutrition During Preconception and Pregnancy resource brief
• Prematurity and Preterm Birth resource brief
• Screening resource brief
• Sleep in Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Gateway
• Tobacco, Alcohol, and Substance Use During Preconception and Pregnancy resource brief

Preconception and Pregnancy: Professional Resource Guide.

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Jeanne Anastasi, M.A., National SUID/SIDS Resource Center; Shree Mohanty, M.A., M.S., R.D., L.D., Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Region V; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.