The thought of getting pregnant is certainly a happy one! Every couple looking forward to becoming parents hope that they’d have a healthy baby. However, to have a risk-free pregnancy and delivery a healthy baby, you have to start preparing even before you conceive.
How early should I prepare for pregnancy? Is that the question on your mind? Then in today’s blog, we will tell you when and how to prepare your body for pregnancy.
Preconception Health
Most people start eating right and taking care of their bodies once they learn that they are pregnant. According to doctors, preconception health determines a person’s chances of being able to conceive. Note that your partner too needs to be healthy to produce high quality sperm. Staying healthy and fit before pregnancy is also essential to have a smooth pregnancy and to ensure that the baby doesn’t have birth defects.
A woman’s health prior to achieving pregnancy is called preconception health. We will discuss what you can do to be fertile and conceive naturally, but first let’s answer your question: How early should I prepare for pregnancy?
If you have made up your mind to bring your biological child into the world, you should begin prioritizing your health at least 3-4 months in advance. Only then, your body will be strong enough to accommodate and nourish another life.
It is in the first few weeks of your pregnancy that your baby’s major organs and systems will start to form. Many pregnant women don’t even realize that they are pregnant until a few weeks have passed. It’s when they miss their period and notice other early pregnancy signs that they take the pregnancy test. By then, a few weeks have already passed. So, if the mother hasn’t been eating a balanced diet, it can slow down the fetal development or result in pregnancy complications.
These are the development’s that take place in the body of the baby in the initial weeks of pregnancy:
- The neural tube is formed which later develops into spinal cord and brain
- The face starts to develop with the beginning of the ears, mouth, and eyes
- Formation of the placenta, umbilical cord, and amniotic sac also takes place
- Durin this stage, the inner ears and the cardiac tissues begin developing
- Limb buds also appear that will later grow into legs and arms
So, now you understand why it’s important to quit smoking and drinking, maintain a healthy weight, and eat nutritious meals a few months before you stop taking your birth control pill.
Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy with These Tips
1. Know your family health history
Having a clear idea about your family health history is a must when you are trying to conceive. The family health history is basically a detailed record of health conditions, surgeries, and treatments of you, your parents, your partner, and his parents. Ask your parents if certain health conditions run in your side of the family or your partner’s.
If you have pre-existing health issues like obesity, high BP, diabetes, insomnia, depression, etc. first treat those. If there is something that can affect the fetus, talk to your doctor. They will be able to come up with the best precautionary measures.
2. Say no to alcohol and smoking
No amount of alcohol is recommended to an expecting mom as it can affect the unborn baby’s development. Therefore, since you are planning to be a mommy, why take any chances?
You should also stop smoking as it has been linked with ectopic pregnancy, premature delivery, and miscarriage. Even after the baby is born, as long as you breastfeed, smoking is out of question.
3. Take prenatal vitamins
The food we eat often fails to give us all the essential vitamins we need. So, even before you are pregnant, taking prenatal vitamins daily will be wise. The vitamins will get rid of deficiencies, and you can expect a healthy pregnancy.
4. Take a folic acid supplement
Every cell in the human body requires vitamin B or folic acid. The folic acid requirement of your body before and during pregnancy is 400 mcg. If the mother does not get enough folic acid, chances are high that the baby might be born with birth defects. Some dietary sources of folic acid are nuts, seafood, eggs, meat, grains, beans, green veggies, peas, and brussels sprouts.
5. Maintain a healthy lifestyle
In addition to avoiding alcohol and tobacco, you have to make some changes in your routine and the first step is eating right. You should have meals that are loaded with vital minerals, vitamins, and protein. Keeping your body adequately hydrated is equally important.
Partying regularly and sleeping late negatively impacts fertility levels. So, try to go to bed on time to increase the production of female reproductive hormones. Limiting the intake of caffeine is also advisable. You should neither be underweight nor overweight. So, exercise for at least 30 minutes per day to improve your overall well-being in the months leading up to your pregnancy.
6. Track your ovulation
Just having sexual intercourse won’t be enough unless you do it strategically and for that, you must understand the female body. Whether you are 30, 35, or in your late 20s, you ovulate once a month and that’s your window to facilitate implantation. As you want to make a baby, monitoring your menstrual cycle will help you conceive quickly. And when you are ovulating, you need to have coitus regularly.
Note: If you find it difficult to track your ovulation, ovulation kits are there to help you.
To Sum Up
So, what are you waiting for? Book an appointment with an accomplished gynecologist for a thorough preconception checkup. It is a mandatory step as it will tell you how ready you are to embark on your motherhood journey.
References:
How to Prepare for Pregnancy | Johns Hopkins Medicine
