Getting Ready for Pregnancy: Healthy Lifestyle Tips| Birla Fertility & IVF

Planning a baby

Preconception health focuses on things that you can do to improve your chances of having a healthy baby. Eat a healthy preconception diet, exercise regularly, and adhere to some key pre-pregnancy tips. It may take a few months for some couples to prepare their body for pregnancy and whether this is your first, second, or for that matter, third baby, being careful and planning ahead of time may help you prepare for a healthy pregnancy.

Make a strategy and put it into action

Making the right plan for the right time is what a couple needs to work on. It is essential to consider your objectives for having or not having a baby and strategise a plan for how to attain these objectives.

Prepare your finances

Planning, giving birth, and raising a child might be an expensive gift from God. And so, after you’ve decided to have a baby, it’s necessary for a couple to write out a detailed plan, including the costs of pre-and post-natal examinations, as well as how the couples will manage the money once the baby is born. Every parent wants to provide the best for their children, which necessitates careful preparation and execution, and so as per your plan, you may need to cut back on a few things, but this effort will teach you to prioritise your baby’s needs and spending.

Make an appointment and visit the doctor

Before planning a baby, it is always advisable to visit a specialist to talk about any general tests you might need and to understand and know better about your body and the right time to try. It might also be beneficial to inform the doctor about your or your partner’s family history of any genetic conditions, as some conditions may affect your chances of getting pregnant.

Stop smoking, alcohol, and drugs

Before starting a family, you should make some significant adjustments in your life to increase your chances of becoming pregnant sooner. Stop smoking, consuming alcohol, and abstaining from recreational drugs that may have an adverse effect on your body and your chances of a healthy pregnancy.

Stay active and fit

Working out before getting pregnant is beneficial to both you and your future child. When you’re trying to conceive, getting into a gym program and staying active is a significant step in the right direction. After all, exercise is important for overall health and wellness and can aid in the preparation of your body for conception.

Eat the right diet

Around the planning period, the doctor might suggest you eat folate foods and prescribe folic acid medication as it is hard to find folic acid in whole foods. Foods rich in folic acid are spinach, broccoli, oranges, strawberries, beans, and nuts (in small quantities, i.e as recommended by doctors).

Manage your stress levels

It is essential for couples to reduce their stress levels to plan a baby, as it can jeopardise their pregnancy plans. Stress can cause ovulation to be delayed and uterine contractions to be more frequent, which can prevent a fertilised egg from adhering to the uterus. Focus more on meditation or attend a yoga class to help relieve that stress and anxiety.