Environmental exposures: how to counsel preconception and prenatal patients in the clinical setting.

Abstract

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that preconception and prenatal exposures can impact fetal development adversely and lead to potential long-lasting health effects. Reproductive health professionals have little training on these exposures and how to counsel patients effectively. We present short summaries of some of the most common environmental exposures and give providers practical tools with which to counsel patients in the clinical setting. These tools may enable practitioners to help prevent harmful environmental exposures and to reduce the risk of future adverse health impacts for the prenatal and preconception patient population.