Dr Danielle Schoenaker

• Preconception health
• Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
• Maternal, paternal and child health
• Lifecourse epidemiology

Informing preconception care in the primary care setting: Dr Danielle Schoenaker was awarded a NIHR Advanced Fellowship (2023-2028) to inform how primary care teams can better support their patients in preparing for a healthy pregnancy. Her team is leading analyses of linked health and care data to examine the extent to which improved preconception health can reduce adverse pregnancy, birth and early childhood outcomes. This evidence is feeding into multi-stakeholder activities to co-develop best practice guidance for preconception care, which will be implemented and pilot-tested in primary care settings and evaluated through a health economics analysis. Public contributors are involved throughout this research and in the dissemination of findings, for example at conferences (blog).

System-wide preconception and interpregnancy care and support to reduce maternity disparities: Dr Danielle Schoenaker is the Emerging Lead and Implementation Work Package Co-Lead for the Preconception and Interpregnancy Health theme within the NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium. his programme of research is implementing and evaluating a system-wide blueprint for preconception and interpregnancy care and support to reduce maternity disparities and improve outcomes for families across the UK.

National surveillance of preconception health: a project led by Dr Danielle Schoenaker has identified preconception indicators that can be monitored using existing routine datasets to inform surveillance of preconception health in England. In collaboration with the UK Preconception Partnership and UK government Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), she produced a first national-level report card on women’s preconception health in England published by OHID and in BJOG, and highlighted in an NIHR Alert. Ongoing analyses and collaboration are informing the implementation of preconception health indicators into national surveillance dashboards.

International surveillance of preconception health: 

Dr Danielle Schoenaker co-leads the International Core Indicators for Preconception Health and Equity (iCIPHE) Alliance, bringing together academic, clinical, policy and public representatives from low-, middle- and high-income countries. The Alliance published a paper in The Lancet on measuring and monitoring pregnancy planning and preconception health, and is conducting an international consensus study to reach agreement on a core set of preconception indicators for surveillance.