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Melinda Delisle-Clark
childbirth educator
labor doula

As a couple planning a pregnancy, you're lucky! You have the opportunity to truly prepare your bodies for optimal health during conception, pregnancy, and beyond. Many of these suggestions cannot be followed by a mom who is already pregnant because of the potential for harming the baby. But you can, and by doing so, you give your baby a better environment to grow in!

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Pregnancy Health How-To Guide

• Lose weight. If you are not at your ideal weight, work to get closer to it now. Remember that you gain weight when pregnant, and some women have a hard time getting rid of the extra pounds later.
   
• Increase your fitness level. Women who exercise more have easier pregnancies, are more likely to have a full-term baby, and have shorter labors. The benefits are increased for women who are fit before getting pregnant. It is also easier to continue what you have been doing than to start exercising when pregnant!
   
• Avoid drugs when possible. Try to only use medications when they are truly necessary. Seek other ways to deal with minor discomforts (This includes nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and over-the-counter medications).
   
• Detoxify your body. Find a qualified herbalist or naturopath to lead you through a system detox. Too many toxins in the body can contribute to infertility problems, miscarriage, and pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia. Getting rid of these toxins before pregnancy reduces your risk for these problems.
   
• Change your diet. I don’t mean start eating like a pregnant mom yet. But you DO want to make sure that your diet includes all of the nutrients necessary in early pregnancy. Remember that you are pregnant for two weeks or more before you realize it! This is a very vulnerable time when serious birth defects may occur. Follow the "easy" nutrition tips on this website, and strongly consider taking a prenatal multivitamin supplement.
   
• Supplement your diet. There are a number of nutrients that are commonly deficient in the Standard American Diet, and some micronutrients which are all but impossible to get unless you pick your own food. Lacking any nutrients in your diet means your body is not working as well as it could, which will impact your ability to conceive, pregnancy health, your baby's health, and your general well-being. Experts in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recommend that everyone take at least a good multi-vitamin & multi-mineral supplement daily. It is also a good idea to supplement the micronutrients missing in store-bought produce. (see "Choosing Quality Nutritional Supplements")
   
• Drink lots of pure water. Your body needs plenty of pure water to function properly. The chlorine in tap water has been linked to infertility and miscarriage. Tap water may also contain other contaminants, including prescription drugs, and lead. Drink either good spring water, filtered water or preferably distilled or reverse-osmosis. Even a good carbon filter will remove many of the contaminants.
   
• Handle any pre-existing health conditions. Any condition that is effecting your health will effect your baby, also. Even something as easy-to-live-with as asthma can seriously impair your baby's development. Discuss your situation with your doctor and consider consulting an integrative medical doctor or naturopath or trying other alternative therapies to give your body the best chance to heal itself, even if it is only partly. (Find a local holistic practitioner at these links)
   
• Get birth-control hormones out of your system. If you use birth control pills or another form of birth control which uses hormones, stop using it and switch to a barrier method for at least 3 months before trying to get pregnant. This lets your cycles normalize and makes sure the hormones are completely out of your body. No one truly knows what effects residual birth control hormones have on a newly conceived baby, so we err on the side of caution.
   
• Learn to relax! Relaxation helps reduce stress and will improve your general health, as well as that of your baby. Relaxation could possibly help you conceive, also.

• Avoid drugs when possible. Drugs can effect a man’s sperm or cause low sperm counts, potentially leading to fertility problems of genetic disorders in the baby. Try to only use medications when they are truly necessary. Seek other ways to deal with minor discomforts. (By the way, this also applies to alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and chlorine.)
   
• Detoxify your body. Find an herbalist or naturopath to lead you through a system detox. Too many toxins in the body can contribute to infertility or even make sperm mal-formed. Getting rid of these toxins before trying to conceive helps increase baby’s chance of having healthy genes.
   
• Change your diet. Just like building a house, your body needs all the right pieces to be able to "build" sperm properly. Since your sperm makes up half of your baby’s genetic code, and thus greatly influences his/her health, you want to give the best you can! Follow the "easy" diet tips included in this kit – they’re not just for pregnant moms!
   
• Supplement your diet. There are a number of nutrients that are commonly deficient in the Standard American Diet, and some micronutrients which are all but impossible to get unless you pick your own food. Lacking any nutrients in your diet means your body is not working as well as it could, which will impact your ability to conceive, pregnancy health, your baby's health, and your general well-being. Experts in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recommend that everyone take at least a good multi-vitamin & multi-mineral supplement daily. It is also a good idea to supplement the micronutrients missing in store-bought produce. (see "Choosing Quality Nutritional Supplements")
   
• Drink lots of pure water. Your body needs plenty of pure water to function properly. The chlorine in tap water has been linked to infertility and miscarriage. Tap water may also contain other contaminants, including prescription drugs, and lead. Drink either good spring water, filtered water or preferably distilled or reverse-osmosis. Even a good carbon filter will remove many of the contaminants.
   
• Handle any pre-existing health conditions. Any condition that is effecting your health will effect your baby, also. Even something as easy-to-live-with as asthma can seriously impair your baby's development. Discuss your situation with your doctor and consider consulting an integrative medical doctor or naturopath or trying other alternative therapies to give your body the best chance to heal itself, even if it is only partly. (Find a local holistic practitioner at these links)
   
• Learn to relax! Relaxation helps reduce stress and will improve your general health and attitude and, by extension, the health of your whole family. Relaxation may even help you conceive.

Following these tips will help you feel better now, and will help your baby in the long run! In most cases, even couples who have been having fertility problems will conceive once both mom-to-be and dad-to-be's bodies are healthy!

For more ways to aid fertility naturally, please read the related Articles and Studies

All articles are included for educational purposes only. Please consult your health care practitioner before following suggestions included in any article or study. Individual articles copyright of their respective authors.