<p>There are specific developmental stages in a&#xa0;woman’s life, also referred to as “sensitive time windows,” during which adverse health conditions or developmental changes can have a&#xa0;lasting negative impact on the organism. These include adolescence, the reproductive period from the desire to have children to breastfeeding and the menopause. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are particularly important as they are completely life-changing phases for both mother and child. The risk of the mother for chronic cardiovascular or metabolic diseases, which are also classified as noncommunicable diseases, is significantly increased after pregnancy complications, such as pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes. For the offspring this first phase of life inside and the first 2 years outside the womb shape the development of health and quality of life more directly and sustainably than any other period of this duration in further phases of life. Health-promoting measures for children, adolescents and people of reproductive age have the most sustainable preventive effect as they also incorporate the healthcare of the next generation and can interrupt the transgenerational cycle of adverse imprinting. Numerous preventive models have been internationally developed with respect to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases also in the context of the care for women who wish to have children as well as during and after pregnancy. Their implementation is also the responsibility of gynecologists.</p>