Pregnancy Preparation

Trying to Have a Baby - How to Prepare the Body for a Pregnancy

Sep 7, 2009 Sofie De Cocker

Women who are trying to conceive should get into shape and eat healthy in order to maximise the chances of a healthy pregnancy.

Women who want to conceive have to stop using birth control and give their bodies time to adjust to these changes. Those using only condoms or diaphragms will be ready to conceive right away because their bodies don’t need a lot of adjusting.

Women who have used hormone-based methods such as the pill or an IUD will have to give their body a few months to adjust. It’s not that a woman’s fertility is decreased by using these methods but it may take some time before it’s possible to actually start planning a pregnancy since the monthly periods won’t come regular at first. Therefore it’s not easy to predict when ovulating and thus start planning the pregnancy.

Eating Healthy Before Getting Pregnant

Eating healthy before getting pregnant means that the body has enough vitamins and minerals to keep mother and baby healthy during pregnancy. Women who are trying to have a baby should start a well-balanced and nutritious diet as pregnancy preparation. This diet includes:

  • plenty of fruit and vegetables
  • food with lots of protein such as lean meat, fish, nuts and poultry
  • dairy products
  • iron-rich food such as red meat, dried fruit, bread and pulses.

Women planning a pregnancy should also consult their GP. They can give valuable advise about vitamin supplements like folic acid, iron and calcium.

Living Healthy as Pregnancy Preparation

When trying to have a baby it is crucial to eat healthy, but also to have a healthy lifestyle. Women who smoke are advised to stop doing so before getting pregnant and also during their pregnancy. Smoking not only reduces a woman's fertility by affecting her ovulation but also a man's fertility by reducing his sperm motility.

No Alcohol When Trying to Get Pregnant

Women with a drinking problem should deal with this before trying to have a baby. It’s highly recommended not to drink any alcohol at all, not before and not during a pregnancy. Alcohol enters the placenta and thus affects the baby’s development. In the United States alone, 1 in every 750 infants is born with with the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and 40.000 other babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE).

FAS is a group of problems that can include for instance mental retardation, behaviour problems, growth problems, trouble learning or remembering things, visual problems and so on. It's therefore best to steer far away from alcohol during pregnancy, and preferably when trying to conceive as well. A woman does not always realize right away that she's pregnant. If she keeps drinking alcohol, it can and will affect the baby in a negative way.

Preparing the body when planning a pregnancy is an important step in the process of conceiving a baby. Women's chances of enjoying a healthy pregnancy are maximised by eating healthy, taking vitamin supplements and living a healthy lifestyle.

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The copyright of the article Pregnancy Preparation in Pregnancy & Childbirth is owned by Sofie De Cocker. Permission to republish Pregnancy Preparation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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