Pregnancy is the most beautiful journey which every couple considers a crucial stage in their life. Are you planning for pregnancy? If yes, ensure that your preconception health is in good condition to give birth to a healthy child. For a safe pregnancy, both physical and mental health matters the most. Mental health plays a vital role in producing good hormones during conception. For a woman to get pregnant, the couple must produce fertile ovum and sperm.
But wondering how I can get healthy before conceiving?
To protect your growing infants from birth defects, ensure you are consuming adequate amounts of nutritious foods which contain folic acid, proteins, vitamins, and other essential nutrients. Ask your doctor about what are all the things to do before getting pregnant. Follow a pre-pregnancy diet chart and make sure you are taking the nutrients suggested by your gynecologist. Check out the pre-pregnancy health tips and make sure you follow them for a healthy pregnancy and a happy child.
Folic Acid matters the most!
Once you and your partner decide to plan for a pregnancy, start eating foods packed with folic acid, zinc, and vitamins. Folic acid is a crucial component that plays a vital role in a baby’s brain development. It can also reduce the risk of developing neural tube defects and other birth complications.
A woman should consume a minimum of 0.4mg of folic acid daily through food or other supplements. Prefer natural food resources as much as possible unless your doctor advises you to go for supplements.
Pre-pregnancy food diet
Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and spinach contain high amounts of folic acid and iron which helps in increasing your hemoglobin levels. Include nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, and almonds in your daily routine. These are foods that have high levels of zinc and good cholesterol. Fruits include oranges, pomegranate, and red bananas help increase the counts of fertile ovum and sperms. Eating meat, eggs, and fishes help in promoting a baby’s birth weight and cognitive development. But make sure, you are not taking fish that have high mercury content. It can harm your unborn baby.
Calculate your Caffeine Consumption
Try to reduce the number of times you drink coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Ensure your daily caffeine intake is not more than 200 mg.
Caffeine stimulates miscarriage at an early pregnancy stage. According to studies, more caffeine consumption constricts the blood vessels present in the uterus and placenta. This reduces the blood supply to the unborn infant and inhibits growth.
Avoid certain Medications
Avoid taking certain medicines such as hormone balancing pills, and antidepressants which can affect your pregnancy. Consult your doctor before taking any medications regularly and confirm that it doesn’t affect your pregnancy.
Paternal Factors
Semen quality and sperm count of biological fathers play an important role. Good quality sperm can improve the chance of getting pregnant and reduce the risk of developing complications in infants.
Factors such as overweight, heavy alcohol consumption, smoking, and poorly controlled diabetes can affect the sperm count and its quality. Ensure you do not fall under these categories at least three months before your conception because sperm would take around 72 days to develop and mature.
Heal from previous miscarriages
If you are a couple who have undergone a miscarriage recently, take some time to heal yourself first and then address the incident to your gynecologist to figure out if you can plan for pregnancy now or not. This can avoid any further complications as you are already emotional.
Bottom Line
Apart from all the above factors, the key ingredient for a healthy pregnancy is a happy and stress-free lifestyle. The more you stay happy during your pregnancy, the healthier the baby will be in your womb. Have a healthy and happy pregnancy!
