Health Tip – Audio Version - Pre-dads work
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step: Preconception Care (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Being a good dad can start before fatherhood. A woman in good health is more likely to have a healthy baby – and the man in her life can help her prepare.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Hani Atrash says men can learn about women’s health, such as such as folic acid supplements, which can prevent some serious birth defects.

Atrash says men also can know the genetic diseases in their family tree, and get checked for sexually transmitted diseases. And men in some jobs have extra work:

“Men who work with chemicals and other toxins need to be careful that they do not expose women to them.”

Atrash says that, for example, workers who use fertilizers or pesticides should change clothes before they see women at home, and wash their clothes separately.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: August, 15 2006