Pre-conception counseling may be offered for a variety of reasons. For example, if you have a family history of a genetic condition, you may desire pre-conception counseling to discuss what testing is available to determine if a future pregnancy may be at risk for the condition. If you have a chronic illness (such as diabetes or hypertension) or a history of significant/severe complications with a prior pregnancy, you may opt for pre-conception counseling to better understand the potential risks a pregnancy may pose to you or your baby. Pre-conception counseling is also a good opportunity to discuss the potential effects, if any, that your medication may have on a developing baby. You should never alter medications taken for chronic illness without consulting a physician. Lastly, a woman who is considered advanced maternal age, greater than 35 years of age at delivery, may consider pre-conception counseling.

During a pre-conception counseling session, you may be asked about your ancestry; this is because certain ethnic backgrounds or ancestries may have an increased risk of having a baby with certain genetic conditions. If so, you may wish to have further testing to determine if your baby is at risk for the condition common to your ethnic group.

 For example, an individual of Northern European ancestry, such as English, Irish and German, may be offered cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier screening, while someone of African American ancestry may be offered sickle cell anemia carrier screening. Of note, cystic fibrosis carrier screening is now recommended for all patients and their partners regardless of their background.

 In addition, individuals of Mediterranean ancestry, such as Italian, Spanish and Greek, may be offered b-thalassemia screening and those of Asian descent may be offered a-thalassemia screening.  An individual of Eastern European Jewish (Ashkenazi) descent may be offered carrier screening for several disorders including Tay-Sachs disease, Canavan disease, cystic fibrosis, Gaucher disorder, Niemann-Pick disease, Fanoci anemia and Bloom syndrome.

Since there are so many prenatal screening and testing options available, some patients will ask for pre-conception counseling simply to find out what testing options are available for a future pregnancy, and when they should be done.