If you are trying to have a baby or are just thinking about it, it is not too early to start getting ready for pregnancy. Preconception health and health care focus on things you can do before and between pregnancies to increase the chances of having a healthy baby. For some women, getting their body ready for pregnancy takes a few months. For other women, it might take longer. Whether this is your first, second, or sixth baby, the following are important steps to help you get ready for the healthiest pregnancy possible.
- Make a Plan and Take Action
Whether or not you’ve written them down, you’ve probably thought about your goals for having or not having children, and how to achieve those goals. For example, when you didn’t want to have a baby, you used effective birth control methods to achieve your goals. Now that you’re thinking about getting pregnant, getting pregnant and having a healthy baby
- See Your Doctor
Before getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about preconception health care. Your doctor will want to discuss your health history and any medical conditions you currently have that could affect a pregnancy. He or she also will discuss any previous pregnancy problems, medicines that you currently are taking, vaccinations that you might need, and steps you can take before pregnancy to prevent certain birth defects.
If your doctor has not talked with you about this type of care ask about it! Take a list of talking points so you don’t forget anything!
Be sure to talk to your doctor about:
Medical Conditions
If you currently have any medical conditions, be sure they are under control and being treated. Some of these conditions include: sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), diabetes, thyroid disease external icon, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases.
Lifestyle and Behaviours
Talk with your doctor or another health professional if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use certain drugs; live in a stressful or abusive environment; or work with or live around toxic substances. Health care professionals can help you with counselling, treatment, and other support services.
Medications
Taking certain medicines during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects. These include some prescription and over-the-counter medications and dietary or herbal supplements. If you are planning a pregnancy, you should discuss the need for any medication with your doctor before becoming pregnant and make sure you are taking only those medications that are necessary.
Bring all medication you are on to your appointment, so your doctor can check how safe they are for pregnancy.
Vaccinations (shots)
Some vaccinations are recommended before you become pregnant, during pregnancy, or right after delivery. Having the right vaccinations at the right time can help keep you healthy and help keep your baby from getting very sick or having lifelong health problems.
- Take 400 Micrograms of Folic Acid Every Day
Folic acid is a B vitamin. If a woman has enough folic acid in her body at least 1 month before and during pregnancy, it can help prevent major birth defects of the baby’s brain and spine.
- Stop Drinking Alcohol, Smoking, and Using Certain Drugs
Smoking, drinking alcohol, and using certain drugs can cause many problems during pregnancy for a woman and her baby, such as premature birth, birth defects, and infant death.
Alcohol. Although there are no hard and fast rules about drinking alcohol when you’re in the TTC stage (like there are during pregnancy), it is known that heavy drinking can mess with your menstrual cycle, possibly interfering with ovulation and making it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus. And because you won’t necessarily know the moment you conceive when you’re in TTC mode,
Smoking. Smoking (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, hookahs, vape pens and susha) is a no-no during preconception and pregnancy period. Smoking can age your eggs (making 30-year-old eggs act more like 40-year-old eggs), resulting in a more difficult path to conception and a greater risk of IVF failure or miscarriage. What’s more, heavy smoking damages the ovaries as well as the uterus, potentially reducing fertility even further. Smoking can harm your general health and fertility, too, so stay as far away from cigarette smoke as you can to tip the conception odds in your favour
Marijuana. Believe it or not, marijuana (or the use of edibles or vaporizing) can adversely affect the ability of your partner’s sperm to fertilize an egg even if he doesn’t smoke it. That’s because THC — the active ingredient in marijuana shows up in your vaginal fluids and reproductive organs. To be on the safe side and the most fertile side now’s the time to quit smoking pot. And though this might sound obvious, pass, too, on any illicit drugs, including cocaine, crack or heroin, which can make conception more difficult and pregnancy much riskier.
Caffeine. If you’ve got a baby in your plans, it’s time to put less coffee in your cup. Keeping caffeine intake sensibly moderate now may actually help you get, and stay pregnant. Some studies have linked too much caffeine consumption with lower fertility levels and an increased risk of miscarriage. So, limit your caffeine intake to no more than 200 milligrams per day. That’s equivalent to a daily total of about two small cups (or one 12-ounce cup) of brewed coffee.
Herbal tea: most herbal tea is safe with exception to some, they include (including red raspberry leaf, southernwood, wormwood, mugwort, barberry, tansy, mandrake root, juniper, pennyroyal, nutmeg, arbor vitae and senna) may not be safe. Even green tea and Matcha should be limited during the preconception period because they decrease the effectiveness of folic acid, a vitamin vital to the healthy development of your soon-to-be baby. The most important thing to remember: It’s not always easy to know which brew is safe when you’re trying to conceive.
If you are trying to get pregnant and cannot stop drinking, smoking, or using drugs―get help!
- Avoid Toxic Substances and Environmental Contaminants
Avoid harmful chemicals, environmental contaminants, and other toxic substances such as synthetic chemicals, metals, fertilizer, bug spray, and cat or rodent faeces around the home and in the workplace. These substances can hurt the reproductive systems of men and women. They can make it more difficult to get pregnant. Exposure to even small amounts during pregnancy, infancy, childhood, or puberty can lead to diseases.
- Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight
Reaching a healthy preconception weight and BMI
Did you know that getting your weight as close as you can to “ideal” before you’re expecting can actually help you expect sooner? There’s a strong connection between weight and fertility, so getting to a healthy weight for your body type is an important step to take when you’re getting your body ready for baby-making.
The ideal BMI for baby making is between 18.5 and 24.9 and that’s your BMI goal. If your BMI is less than 18.5, you’re considered underweight and you’ll need to put on some pounds before TTC. If your BMI is between 25 and 29, you’re considered overweight and ideally, you should lose some weight before trying to conceive. A BMI of 30 or higher makes you obese and you should definitely try to lose weight before you start trying for a baby.
Obesity (and even being overweight) is associated with diminished egg quality and decreased ovarian function, as well as with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a fairly common cause of fertility issues. Even a small amount of weight loss in obese or overweight infertile women can improve the chances of becoming pregnant.
Being underweight can also put a dent in your conception plans. Women who have a very low BMI often have very low levels of oestrogen, which can lead to irregular ovulation or periods (or even no ovulation or periods). Women who are underweight when they become pregnant also have a higher risk of miscarriage. This is especially true if you’re underweight and have an eating disorder.
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t about short-term dietary changes. It’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity.
If you are underweight, overweight, or obese, talk with your doctor about ways to reach and maintain a healthy weight before you get pregnancy
- Get Help for Violence
Violence can lead to injury and death among women at any stage of life, including during pregnancy. The number of violent deaths experienced by women tells only part of the story. Many more survive violence and are left with lifelong physical and emotional scars.
If someone is violent toward you or you are violent toward your loved ones―get help. Violence destroys relationships and family
- Learn Your Family History
Collecting your family’s health history can be important for your child’s health. You might not realize that your sister’s heart defect or your cousin’s sickle cell disease could affect your child, but sharing this family history information with your doctor can be important.
Other reasons people go for genetic counselling include having had several miscarriages, infant deaths, trouble getting pregnant (infertility), or a genetic condition or birth defect that occurred during a previous pregnancy.
- Get Mentally Healthy
Mental health is how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. To be at your best, you need to feel good about your life and value yourself. Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad, or stressed sometimes. However, if these feelings do not go away and they interfere with your daily life, get help. Talk with your doctor or another health professional about your feelings and treatment option
- Have a Healthy Pregnancy!
Once you are pregnant, be sure to keep up all of your new healthy habits and see your doctor regularly throughout pregnancy for prenatal care
Sources
CDC. 2016. Planning for pregnancy. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/preconception/planning.html [Accessed November 2016]