Naturally Healthy Parenting The parent's guide to a healthy family
Planning and preparing is a crucial factor in ensuring that you have a healthy pregnancy. Some healthy lifestyle changes may become part of your life even after the pregnancy period. In this article, we will discuss some practical tips on how you can prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy.
Consult Your Doctor
The first thing you should do before considering getting pregnant is to consult your doctor. Your doctor will analyze your family’s history and tell you the possibility of complications. If the doctor observes the possibility of complications, they will advise you on what to do.
You must also ensure that you are vaccinated against major diseases. For instance, depending on your country, you must be vaccinated against rubella and chickenpox for at least three months before you get pregnant.
The doctor will test you for STDs and advise you on the necessary precautions to ensure you have high chances of a healthy pregnancy.
The other reason why you need to consult a doctor is when you have an underlying medical condition that requires you to take medicine regularly, such as diabetes. The doctor will advise you on necessary changes to your medication before you try to conceive.
Stop Using Birth Control
You can’t conceive when you are on any birth control method. If you have an IUD, visit your gynecologist to have it removed. After stopping to use some birth control, some women may get pregnant after two weeks while others may take longer before conceiving.
Fix Your Diet
Is your current diet habits helping you to prepare the body to conceive? You’ll need to cut out all the unhealthy diet habits and replace them with healthier and organic food items as a way of preparing for pregnancy. Switching your habits will do you good and lower your exposure to toxins.
It is essential to avoid eating raw foods such as uncooked eggs to avoid contracting salmonella and other diseases. If you have a body mass index (BMI) over 30 or you are obese, you should choose to get lighter for a healthier and easier pregnancy. Also, being underweight can be a problem affecting your menstrual cycle and making you miss your periods in some cases. It means you might not be ovulating on a regular cycle.
For a healthy pregnancy, try having a BMI ranging from 19 to 25.
Get A Full Body Checkup
It may be necessary to get a full body checkup to assess the current condition of the female body. It usually includes blood tests, physical examinations, and review of medical issues followed by appropriate treatment if needed. This can help in providing a healthy body for pregnancy.
For instance, if you already have blurred vision, opting for lasik before pregnancy can be helpful in correcting vision to improve the clarity. Consequently, you might manage daily tasks during pregnancy and motherhood without the need of glasses.Exercise Regularly
Consider incorporating moderate work out sessions of around 30 minutes for at least five days a week. You should start with a 20-minute walk before moving to more vigorous workouts. For those not used to exercising regularly, they should try to squeeze in about 45 minutes of exercise, five days a week.
Stack Up on Multivitamins
It is always recommendable for women to take multivitamins to supplement the nutrition they lack in their diets. Taking prenatal vitamins will help you bridge nutritional deficiencies that you might have right before conceiving.
You must boost iron and calcium-rich rich foods intake to ensure you have a healthy pregnancy.
Stay Off Alcohol, Drugs, and Smoke
These habits will affect both you and your unborn baby. Smoking will expose you to toxins and reduce your blood flow. It will also affect fertility and may lead to miscarriage or stillbirths.
Alcohol consumption will affect your baby and may put your baby at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. Some hard drugs such as heroin will harm your unborn kid, leading them to have drug-dependable lives.
If your partner is smoking, you should advise him to stop smoking too as it may affect his chances of making you pregnant due to low sperm count. Also, the smoke is not good for you and the unborn baby, as it may lead to related respiratory diseases. You should also reduce caffeine intake each day. Check with your doctor, but we recommend not more than 300 ml of caffeinated drink a day.
Avoid Stress
It is usually stressful when you are trying to conceive. You must manage your stress to avoid increasing cortisol levels, lowering sexual drive, and preventing ovulation. We have several practices you can try to relieve stress, such as meditation, music, and yoga.
Additionally, you can use cannabis, which is known for its therapeutic benefits. Well, it can come with dual benefits. While some strains can help you relax and de-stress, certain cannabis strains can be used for intimacy, meaning a complete win-win! You can give it a try whether you are feeling stressed or want to reignite the physical connection with your partner.
Get All Information Regarding Pregnancy
Talk with your doctor to understand how conception works, early signs of pregnancy to look out for, and your cycle of ovulation, to increase your chances of conceiving. This information is vital to prepare you for what is waiting for you in the next nine months or so.
To understand your ovulation cycle, you can use ovulation kits which is usually always accurate.
