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Conference tunes in on ‘Having Children in the Future’

Conference tunes in on ‘Having Children in the Future’

Nov 6, 2019


The 4th European Conference on Preconception Health and Care gathered close to 200 midwifes, fertility experts and other stakeholders, when it was held at Rigshospitalet end of September 2019. 

“With 20% experiencing problems having children, it is also a matter of the society. We need to know more, and we need to address the gap between recommendations and behavior as well as get more information out to the public”, said Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, regional council chairman in her opening remarks. 

The conference addressed fertility awareness, family building and the latest research when it comes to the challenges the society and health professionals face concerning reproduction and health before and after pregnancy.

Among the speakers was Dr. Emily Koert, who presented her ReproUnion co-funded study on psychological consequences among men and women with prior pregnancy loss. The qualitative study was based on in-depth interviews with couples in Denmark experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss and it has been published in Human Reproduction. 

“The conference was also an opportunity to try out new ways to collaborate across professions and the public/private sector – just as the ReproUnion partnership across the Øresund region has allowed us to”, says Søren Ziebe, who was part of the organizing committee for the conference, held by the Obstetrics- and Fertility departments at the Juliane Marie Center, Rigshospitalet in collaboration with the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen. 

The 5th European Conference on Preconception Health and Care will be held at University College London, UK, September 16th – 17th 2021.  Hosted by the UCL Elizabeth Garrett Institute for Women’s Health and held at the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, the theme of the conference will be: The ‘Book ends’ of Pregnancy: preconception and interconception / postnatal care.