Objective:

To emphasize the critical importance of initiating cardiovascular (CV) disease prevention before conception and throughout pregnancy.

Key Findings:

• Pre-conception health factors significantly influence pregnancy outcomes and future CV risk, necessitating early intervention.
• Paternal health also affects offspring through epigenetic changes, which can have lasting implications for their cardiovascular health.
• In utero disturbances can lead to lifelong cardiovascular programming, highlighting the need for monitoring during pregnancy.
• Current clinical practices often overlook early risk assessment and intervention, which could prevent future cardiovascular issues.

Interpretation:

Effective CV disease prevention requires a paradigm shift to include pre-conception and pregnancy periods, recognizing that risk factors begin long before adulthood and must be addressed proactively.

Limitations:

• Mainstream clinical care is slow to adopt a life-course approach to CV risk, often neglecting early intervention.
• Existing risk assessment tools are primarily designed for middle-aged adults, limiting their applicability to younger populations.

Conclusion:

To achieve meaningful CV disease prevention, it is essential to integrate pre-conception and pregnancy health into the prevention narrative, leveraging early risk identification and intervention strategies to improve outcomes for mothers and children.