North Carolina programs
EveryWomanNC Webinar Series
The March of Dimes North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign has hosted many webinars for health care professionals. They are focused on improving the health of women prior to pregnancy. If you were unable to join us, the following topics were aimed at developing your knowledge and skill set around preconception health:
- Reproductive Life Planning: Simple strategies to help your patients plan ahead
- Healthy Weight Matters: Young Women and the Reproductive Health Consequences of Obesity
- Young Women & Tobacco: Using the 5As to Help Women Quit
- Folic Acid & Multivitamins: Preventing Neural Tube Birth Defects in North Carolina
- The Circle of Care for Women: The Role of Early and Effective Utilization of Prenatal Care
- The Affordable Care Act: Services that Support Women of Childbearing Age
Leading statewide and regional preconception health initiatives
Preconception health is a national priority that can change women's lives and improve infant health. Investing our resources and energy in preconception health is vital to North Carolina’s future. Better preconception health improves the overall health of women and babies, decreases health disparities, improves our health care system, and decreases costs to families and society.
North Carolina has long been viewed as a leader in preconception health and continues to drive innovation nationwide. In fact, we are proud that preconception health had its first major publication when Dr. Robert Cefalo and Merry-K Moos wrote the first book on this topic at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Achieving our vision of healthy women will require efforts that span professions, geography, spheres of influence, policies and individuals. Preconception health messages and health care strategies must be structured to reach a diverse audience of women at multiple points in time throughout their lives. Policies must support women’s healthy choices and their goals.
Today, North Carolina continues to enhance its efforts to improve the health of the state's women and infants. Preconception health is a big umbrella that covers a lot of women and health topics; the work proceeds from many different angles. While some efforts focus on individual women and behaviors, others provide support for healthy choices. Still others educate and support our grandparents, health care providers, and new fathers. Additional efforts focus on insurance coverage, workplace support, and the expansion of pregnancy services beyond the birth of a baby.
To learn more about North Carolina's work in preconception health over the years, click here. This will take you to the Looking Back, Moving Forward document. Just have a few minutes? Read an executive summary of our work by clicking here.
Here you will find information about current programs in North Carolina.
This web site is designed for informational use only; it is not designed to give advice, diagnose, cure or treat any medical condition you may have. If you have any questions about your health, please contact your health care provider.