Changing Your Lifestyle Will Increase Your Chances Of Pregnancy
Would you consider yourself to be generally healthy? Before you become pregnant, evaluate your overall approach to health and see if there are changes you should make. The best start for a pregnancy is a very healthy mother.
If you are overweight, you could be jeopardizing your fertility. It can also put you at a greater than average risk for miscarriage than a normal weight mother.
Several studies on women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have shown that by losing even just 5% -10% of your excess weight you can stabilize your hormones and, this can increase your chances of better ovulation, better quality eggs, and allow you to carry your pregnancy more easily. We’ll talk more about being overweight and its effects on pregnancy in a later article.
So if you are trying to get pregnant, it would be a good idea to consider all aspects of your life and improve your pregnancy chances by changing your lifestyle.
This is a positive time to look at yourself and then change what you can.
Look at the type of foods you are eating, the amount of exercise you may or may not be doing, are you getting enough sleep?, also look at the amount of alcohol you may be drinking.
Folate is a vitamin all women who are trying to get pregnant should be taking on a daily basis. Ideally you should be starting this 3 months prior to trying to conceive and continue into your pregnancy. This important fertility vitamin helps to prevent spinal and brain problems such as spina bifida in babies. You can get this vitamin in any pharmacy.
This is also a great time to stop smoking. Smoking is another bit no-no. It increases free radical damage to your body and uses nutrients that are essential for the production of viable sperm and eggs. Yes, again this is information for both partners to know. Smoking leads to low birth weights and birth defects in babies. The time to quit is before you try to conceive. But stopping anytime is still a great achievement.
Antenatal Screening Tests You Need:
In preparing for pregnancy you will need to have an initial checkup with your doctor. He or she will take a detailed medical history and physical examination, and organize blood and urine tests that will help to determine if you have any existing condition that could potentially become a problem as your pregnancy progresses.
The current recommended tests you need to have done include the following:
• Blood group and antibody screen
• Full blood picture – to rule out iron deficiency anaemia
• Rubella antibody status (also German measles)- to make sure you are immune
• Chicken pox antibody status
• Syphilis screening
• Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and HIV screening
• Urine culture: This is a routine test where a sample of your urine will be sent to the lab to be tested for possible infection or glucose problems. You will be given a sterile plastic cup in which to collect a specimen. This is a painless test, and is considered to be a normal part of your antenatal care.
Most women are immune to both rubella and chicken pox either by virtue of having been vaccinated or having had the illness when they were younger. It is essential to know your status prior to pregnancy. If you do not have immunity to either disease and are later exposed while you are pregnant, the effect on your fetus could be heartbreaking. If you have never been immunized, it is essential that you do so prior to becoming pregnant. It is not advised to be vaccinated after you have become pregnant.
Additionally, your doctor will want to know what your blood group is, A, B, AB, or O, and what your Rh factor is, whether you are positive or negative. If you do not have the Rh factor in your blood and your baby does, certain complications could result.
Sometimes a pregnancy can cause problems and this information can help your doctor to be alert to anything before it becomes problematic.
Serum blood chemistries will also be run to make sure you are not out of balance on anything, especially Vitamin D. Inadequate levels of vitamin D during pregnancy could result in lower bone density in your child after birth.
Other blood chemistries can detect familial diseases such as hypercholesterolemia, thalassemia, Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis, and sickle-cell anemia.
Don’t miss having a pap smear test
If your PAP smear is not up to date, your doctor will likely conduct a pelvic exam at your first visit for both a PAP smear and a swab test for Chlamydia infection.
To Sum it UP! To Improve Your Pregnancy Chances:
• An ideal weight of a body mass index between 19 and 25. Or a weight-loss of 5-10% of your bodyweight
• A healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables
• Stop smoking
• Minimal or no alcohol
• Daily vitamin called Folate- 400mcg
• Antenatal screening tests