Deciding you are ready for a baby is exciting and terrifying. Financial and other big decisions are one thing, but taking a few steps to prepare your body ready for pregnancy can make a big difference when it comes to healthy childbearing. Here’s a look at a few steps you can take to get ready for the most important event in your life.
Find a Health Care Team
When it comes to preconception planning, choosing an obstetrician is a great first step. If you already have an ObGyn, you can check this off the list. If not, friends or family are a great resource for recommendations. Remember to talk to your doctor about any pre-existing conditions you may have. Not every obstetrician is prepared to handle “high risk pregnancies” (those in which the mother has additional risk factors, such as blood disorders).
Consider Genetic Counseling
Not every family chooses to receive genetic counseling, but it can be a good idea—particularly if either family has a history of congenital disorders. Your obstetrician should look at both partners' medical history to see if there are concerns regarding genetic disorders. She will also look specifically at the your medical history, so that she can give you conception advice based on your body. More serious pre-existing conditions such as heart conditions or kidney disease, may mean you need a perinatologist on your team. Perinatologists specialize in higher risk pregnancies.
Genetic counseling, on the other hand, involves discussing how these pre-existing conditions can impact both pregnancy and your child. This might include the chances of your baby developing a disease, the risks of having a baby if you have a transmittable infection, and options regarding family planning or disease management.
Get Healthy
Pre-existing conditions aside, making sure you are in the best shape you can be can benefit everyone. For mom, being in good shape means a less taxing pregnancy. For baby, it can mean a healthier outcome. Weight may seem like a minor issue, but it can greatly affect your pregnancy. Being overweight during pregnancy increases the mother's chances of getting hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. It also means a higher probability of needing a cesarean section. Babies born to overweight moms also have a higher chance of having heart problems. As well, being underweight can be just as dangerous. An underweight mother has a higher risk of delivering early, and babies can be at risk of a low birth weight and malnutrition.
Essentially, if your body doesn’t have enough in reserve to take care of you, it’s going to have a hard time providing enough nutrients for two. Eating right and getting even a moderate amount of exercise can make a big difference. The more active you are before you get pregnant, the more active you can be during pregnancy.
Make Good Choices
Your developing baby will be affected by everything you do. While long term bad habits like smoking and excessive drinking can have adverse affect on your own body, it can cause some major problems for children. This might encompass something as easily managed as a low birth weight to something as long term as a developmental disorder. Smoking can cause low birth weight and place baby at risk for a host of respiratory conditions, alcohol can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, and drug use can cause withdrawal symptoms in newborns. If you take medications, talk to your doctor about finding a pregnancy-friendly alternative. Just because they are medically prescribed doesn’t mean they are good for developing embryos. The longer you go before conception without any of these, the better baby’s condition tends to be.
Get Ready for Your Pregnancy Body
Experts recommend starting prenatal vitamins before you get pregnant. Increasing your folic acid intake is especially important. It is the best way to prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Neural tube defects happen during the first month of pregnancy when most women don't realize they are pregnant yet. You can find folic acid in leafy greens like kale and spinach, orange juice, and even white bread. Any prenatal vitamin will have plenty of folic acid along with the important nutrients.
