Preparing your body for pregnancy
It’s quite amazing how we love to prepare and get ready for a big trip, a sporting event we maybe participating in, moving house, moving jobs etc…Yet when it comes to preparing our body for pregnancy all our planning abilities and skills seem to fly out of the window.
For the majority of my patients and friends the path to pregnancy begins something like this:
“I’ll come off the pill the next month and we’ll just go for it until we get pregnant”. We’ll that’s all well and good but it would be advisable to wait for at least 4 -6 months after coming off the pill before you jump into baby making. Why?
1. It takes approximately 6 months before your natural hormonal balance has been restored after coming off the pill (stopping a synthetic hormonal contraceptive).
2. It takes 4 months for a new batch of eggs to mature.
3. It takes 4 months for new batch of sperm to be produced.
Everything that you and your partner have ingested and have been exposed to in the last 4 months has influenced the quality of your eggs and sperm.
By rushing into conception before allowing your hormones to balance out and before adjusting your lifestyle and diet not only are you not preparing your body for pregnancy but you are risking a conception with an egg and sperm of low quality in a body that’s not prepared for a pregnancy.
What this means in the longer run is that you are increasing your odds of a miscarriage and/or premature birth, pregnancy complications, malformations and compromised health of your baby.
So apart from using preconception care, detoxing and starting a fertility diet for the both of you here are 5 points from the Natural Fertility Prescription preconception TO DO and NOT TO DO list that you can print out and start planning! You can get the full lists here; they are part of my “Natural Fertility Prescription” program.
TO DO LIST
- Come off oral contraceptive pill or have your IUD removed at least 6 months before trying to conceive. This is to allow enough time to replenish the nutrients balance the hormones and to minimize the chance of malformations and miscarriage.
- You and your partner should have a genitourinary screen for possible infections. If you get pregnant while you have an infection, the foetus could be seriously damaged by the pathogens and the toxins they produce. This could lead to a premature birth or a miscarriage.
- Have a general health check up; blood pressure, urine test, immunity to rubella, CMV (cytomegalovirus), toxoplasmosis, syphilis, hepatitis and HIV.
- Have a hair mineral analysis done to check for heavy metal toxicity, and mineral status in your body.
- Replace all household cleaning products with natural alternatives. Studies have shown that the chemicals found in those can negatively affect sperm health.
- Do not expose yourself to moulds, dust, paint and any other house renovation byproducts.
NOT TO DO LIST
- Shellfish – high risk of salmonella, toxoplasmosis and listeria.
- Soft (feta, ricotta, camembert, brie, quesoblaco) and blue cheese – risk of listeria.
- Raw eggs and produce made from raw eggs such as mousse, ice cream, custard, mayonnaise and products containing mayonnaise – risk of salmonella.
- Raw seafood, meat and chicken – listeria, salmonella, toxoplasmosis, collform bacteria.
- Cured food, pates, deli meats and seafood which are salted or smoked – risk of salmonella, toxoplasmosis and listeria.
This is an introduction to preparing your body for pregnancy. If you plan your pregnancy ahead you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and heartaches in the long run. And remember it takes two to tango, so make sure your partner is planning with you!
© 2008 Iva Keene and Australian Natural Therapeutics
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this text with it: Prominent Fertility Naturopath Iva Keene publishes the ‘Ultimate Fertility’ ezine with tips to get you pregnant ASAP. Get you FREE Fertility Tips now at http://www.natural-fertility-prescription.com
