Preconception Counseling

Maximizing Your Reproductive Options

When planning a pregnancy, all future parents wish for a healthy baby. Both environmental and genetic (inherited) factors can contribute to the chance that any one of us may have medical problems. The goal of preconception genetic risk evaluation is to allow future parents to understand those inherited risks that can be predicted. Examples of factors that may be associated with an increased risk to future pregnancies include:

• a personal or family history of a known genetic condition
• a personal or family history of birth defects, mental retardation, or multiple miscarriages and/or stillbirths
• certain ethnic backgrounds

Understanding whether certain risks are increased or not, and to what degree, allows future parents to maximize their reproductive options. This includes having adequate time to consider genetic testing, if relevant, to further refine the likelihood of risk to future pregnancies.

At Helix Health we collect comprehensive personal and family medical histories to identify inherited risks to future pregnancies.  Our physicians and genetic counselors are experts in appropriately counseling patients about these risks and their options. Through our commitment to continuity of care via quarterly patient contact and medical literature reviews, Helix Health patients are kept up to date on the latest relevant advances.

Click here for "Lucy and Tom's story" about genetic testing based on ethnicity

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