There was significant excitement among Every Woman Southeast March 2010 meeting participants about working collaboratively in the policy arena. There is hope that by working together we can begin to increase political will for the paradigm shift that preconception health represents.

Many people, including policy makers, budget writers, political candidates, staffers and legislators, do not understand the concepts of preconception health, reproductive life planning and life course perspective. They also many not be aware of the way that various issues intersect and impact the lives of women, men, babies and communities in their jurisdiction / state. One role that Every Woman Southeast may be able to play is to develop materials that states can use to educate these stakeholders. Additionally, Southern states tend to compare themselves to one other, providing potential opportunities for leveraging change and political agendas.

As the Every Woman Southeast Initiative grows, we hope to develop a series of fact sheets both for the region as well as individual states on key issues that impact the health of women of childbearing age. Stay tuned for our first postings.