Are you trying to conceive and prepare for your healthiest pregnancy possible? If you and your partner are planning to start a family or add to your current family, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting pregnant and make sure both you and baby are as healthy as possible.
By following these steps, you’ll be able to help reduce your risks and aim for a happy and wholesome pregnancy.
Talk to your doctor
If you are planning to conceive, it would be ideal to have a chat with your health care provider before getting pregnant. This will ensure that you get your body into the best shape possible and make sure you are as healthy as you can be for your pregnancy and your baby. Your doctor or health care provider will be able to have a chat with you about any potential issues that may affect your ability to fall pregnant and anything that may delay a healthy pregnancy. Whether it’s your first pregnancy or not, you’ll also be able to get any of your questions or concerns answered by a professional.
Think about your diet and exercise
A part of having a healthy pregnancy is having a healthy body weight and body before getting pregnant. Your exercise routine and your diet are one of the two main factors in ensuring that you are as healthy as possible before falling pregnant.
Eating a healthy and balanced diet can help boost your intake of essential vitamins and minerals and if you have spoken to your doctor beforehand, you may also be able to check on your vitamin levels to ensure there are no deficiencies present. Exercise can help you to stay fit and help reduce stress and help your baby to develop healthily.
Consider supplementation
Even if you’re eating all the right foods and are working out sufficiently, there are times where you may not get as many nutrients as possible, especially if you are pregnant. Having a chat with your doctor or health care provider can help you determine whether you should supplement your diet with multivitamins or minerals. They will be able to advise you on what you may need for a better pregnancy.
Assess your family history
Having a look at your family history, as well as your partner’s family history, will help you to understand a little bit more about what your future pregnancy and baby may have in store. Many people believe that women will menstruate, become pregnant and experience a similar birth to their mother’s.
If possible, have a chat with your mother about her pregnancy and any side effects you may experience such as morning sickness. Ask her how long she was in labour for and so on. You may need to have a look at the family history to see if there are any twins or multiples running in the families. It may be a good time to think about the possibility of making room for two new lives in your family and not just one!
Get your stress levels in check
Stress can cause issues with menstruation such as delayed or missed periods and therefore, this can cause some problems when you’re tracking your ovulation in order to get pregnant. Managing your stress levels is an important factor in making sure that your periods are running as much like clockwork as possible.
This may be a great time to undertake some relaxing hobbies and activities such as meditation, yoga and gentle exercise (which is actually great for your health, in any case). Other things that can help you with stress levels include deep breathing techniques, massages and even some aromatherapy.
If you’re planning on getting pregnant, getting your lifestyle in check, making sure you’re getting the right vitamins and minerals, eating the right foods and doing the best for your body and baby is very important. If you’re a smoker, now is also a great time to quit smoking in order to help you fall pregnant and help your baby to be as healthy as possible.