Prenatal Health Is Public Health: Best Practices for Prenatal Health Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation

Abstract

Prenatal health programs and public health promotion provide strategies to mitigate modifiable risks to pregnancy. Women marginalized by race/ethnicity, disability, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, immigration, Francophone and Indigenous status experience barriers to prenatal service access. Multijurisdictional program evaluations were conducted to review prenatal health promotion, design, implementation and evaluation strategies for Canadian government-hosted websites, prenatal e-classes and international prenatal guidance documents. Gaps were noted in prenatal content targeted to non-Anglophone, immigrant, Indigenous and disabled women and LGBTQ communities. I recommend that prenatal program best practices consist of evidence-based, theoretical foundations which recognize the diverse interacting determinants of health across the lifespan. Intersectoral collaborations and integration of public health into primary care facilitates delivery of accessible, inclusive, woman-centred services. These best practices are anticipated to help harmonize prenatal programs across communities, which optimize maternal-child health and children’s long-term health outcomes.