Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
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Preconception Period Analysis of Risks and Exposures influencing health and Development (PrePARED) consortium: PrePARED-Australia consortium

Approved: 2020

Collaborators:

  • Prof Gita Mishra
  • Prof Annette Dobson
  • Dr Hsin-Fang Chung
  • Prof Jenny Doust
  • AProf Emily W Harville
  • Ms Ke Pan
  • AProf Shelley Wilkinson
  • Ms Jesty Saira Varghese

Synopsis

The conventional focus of intervening during pregnancy to reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes is “too little too late.” More than half of Australian women enter pregnancy overweight or obese. Maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications (e.g., preeclampsia and gestational diabetes) and adverse birth outcomes (e.g., stillbirth and low birthweight, macrosomia). Antenatal intervention studies on the effect of diet and exercise among obese and overweight women show only modest reductions in gestational weight gain, and no significant reduction in the risk of adverse outcomes. The 2018 Lancet series on preconception health highlighted the critical need to refocus the timing of changes in exposure levels before conception to comprehensively understand the risk of adverse outcomes. PrePARED Australia aims to assemble and analyse data from existing cohort studies and establish the evidence base on the timing of preconception exposures associated with adverse pregnancy, birth, child outcomes and post-pregnancy maternal health. The knowledge gained will inform more effective preconception healthcare strategies