Guide to Preparing for Pregnancy: Health & Safety Tips

• Smoking and drinking alcohol are significant factors in miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies.
• Green vegetables, lentils, roselle okra, sweetcorn, oranges and bananas are high in folic acids which can help to prevent against infants being born with spinal disorders.
• Pets, such as cats, have the potential to cause disabilities in newborns.
• Preconception Screening Testing can help to identify over 600 types of faulty genes, as well as over 200 genetic conditions, with accuracy levels of up to 95%.

Deciding to have a baby in these modern times is not an easy thing to do. Couples must think carefully and make far-reaching plans before making a decision, taking into account the new technologies that are available as well as the advances that have taken place in the medical profession. For those who do decide to have a baby, the most important consideration is their baby’s safety, physical wellbeing and mental health. Preparing properly before welcoming a little one into the world is therefore of huge importance, and preparations for such an event should take place for around 3 months prior to conception. Proper preparations will ensure that the pregnancy has the greatest chance of success, and both mother and baby are free from risk.

Aside from affecting the general health of a mother-to-be, smoking and drinking alcohol can have detrimental effects on the development of your child and increase the chance of the newborn experiencing problems with their cardiovascular health. More importantly, these two factors increase the risk of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

Preparing for a pregnancy should begin with the mother-to-be eating a healthy and balanced diet, regulating her weight so that it falls within the average range, and avoiding foods that are high in fats and sugars. Coffee should also be avoided and a varied diet, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, should be sustained. This is because some types of fruits and vegetables, such as green vegetables, lentils, roselle okra, sweetcorn, oranges and bananas are high in folic acid, a substance that can help to prevent spinal disorders forming in the newborn child. Good quality carbohydrates like brown rice and wholegrain bread are preferable in moderation and proteins should be included in every meal, examples of which can be found in fish and grains.

Something which should definitely not be overlooked when preparing for a pregnancy is exercise. Begin exercising when you can, try to reduce stress levels and be as calm as possible.

Some forms of medication can reduce the chance of becoming pregnant, and may even negatively affect the health of the baby you are carrying. Mothers-to-be should take their regular medication to their doctor in order to receive advice and instructions on how to proceed in cases where medication courses cannot be halted.

Check your surroundings to see whether there are things that may put your pregnancy at risk, such dangers include insecticides, fiber glass, lead and radioactive substances. Additionally, if you own pets, such as cats, you should ask your doctor for a blood test to assess whether a Toxoplasma infection is present, as this chemical found in cat feces can cause Toxoplasmosis, a factor that can lead to children being born with disabilities. If mothers have no immunity to the condition, they should wear gloves and face masks whenever they come into contact with their cat(s).

Make sure you check out the antenatal care facilities at various local hospitals to ensure that you find somewhere which is suitable for both you and your little one. Take location, travel times and expenses into account when making your decision. Alternatively, you may want to focus on the availability and abilities of medical staff including midwives and nursing staff when making your decision. Whichever factors you decide to focus on, make sure that you are satisfied with the levels of care on offer before you make your final choice.

Another important consideration that women who are preparing for a pregnancy should pay close attention to is vaccinations. You will need to study carefully which vaccinations should be carried out and which ones should be avoided, both pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy. Vaccinations are not exclusive to children and should be used for adults too. This is because adults are at risk of contracting infections that can lead to severe health issues, with these conditions having the potential to cause complications down the line. With this in mind, the vaccinations that mothers should receive are as follows: 

• Vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella: This vaccine is extremely important to women who are preparing for a pregnancy, and should be administered 3 months before conception.
• The influenza vaccine: Everybody should get a flu vaccination, which should then be boosted annually. For pregnant women who have never had the vaccine before, and are pregnant during a time of year when the virus spreads rapidly, the vaccination should be administered while pregnant to reduce any severe complications that may arise from contracting the flu.
• Vaccination against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus: A group of vaccinations that can be administered in a single injection which will then require booster injections every 10 years thereafter. Vaccines should be administered after 27 weeks to ensure the immunity can transfer to the fetus.
• Vaccination against cervical cancer: Generally, this type of vaccine is recommended for women between the ages of 9–46 years old and requires a series of 3 injections. It is not usually advised for pregnant women. If the first injection has been given before becoming pregnant, the remaining injections must only be carried out once the baby has been born.
• Hepatitis A and B vaccinations: The hepatitis virus can be passed on from mother to child so pregnant women should undergo screening to assess whether they are in need of this vaccination or not.

Getting to know the times and dates of your ovulation cycle will help you to understand what time of the month holds the best chance of becoming pregnant.

Women generally have a 28-day menstruation cycle and ovulation usually occurs around 2 weeks before menstruation, on or around the 14th day of the cycle. This should help you to calculate the exact time of ovulation. However, this technique for calculation can only be used by women who have regular menstruation cycles. For example, when menstruation occurs every 28th day, ovulation will occur on every 14th day of this cycle (counting the first day of menstruation as the first day of the cycle).

For those women whose menstruation cycles are not so regular or cannot be easily calculated, the day of ovulation may be subject to change but there are some methods which can be used to help you work out when you will be ovulating. This can be done by recording the length of your menstruation cycle each month for a period of between 8–12 months, with each cycle beginning on the first day of your period and ending on the day before your period begins again. Then, analyze these records to find out which cycle was the shortest and which one was longest before taking these figures and using them to calculate the following:

• First fertile day = Number of days in the shortest cycle – 18.
• Last fertile day = Number of days in the longest cycle – 11.

Supposing that you recorded your cycles for 12 months and your results were 26, 24, 25, 28, 26, 27, 28, 27, 29, 30, 28 and 26, you would see that the shortest cycle was 24 days and the longest 30 days. When calculating as above, you would find that the first fertile day was 24 – 18 = 6, and that the last fertile day would be 30 – 11 = 19. Thus, the best time to engage in sexual intercourse for the highest chances of becoming pregnant would be between the 6th and 19th day of your cycle, being sure to count the days of your own menstruation cycle, rather than using the dates of a calendar.

Preconception genetic screening is important thing to do when preparing for a pregnancy. If there is a family history of a particular genetic condition, either on the mother or on the father’s side, such as thalassemia, hemophilia or/and diabetes, that person should consult with their doctor to carry out targeted genetic screening in order to identify whether or not they have the same genes present or if they are a carrier of the condition.

The importance of the 3 months spent on planning a pregnancy should not be underestimated. However, making sure that you are fully prepared for all eventualities involved with welcoming a new, healthy family member into the world to complete your family unit does not need to be a difficult process. Simply paying full attention to these 8 key points of preparation should be a carefully considered choice for anyone wishing to build a strong family in the future.