These things will increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy
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Before you officially “try” to get pregnant, you should consider a few crucial things that can increase your chances — and make it more likely that you and your baby will be healthy.
1. Visit your doctor
Having a checkup with a doctor or fertility specialist is often one of the most overlooked steps in the process of becoming pregnant. This visit will educate you on your body’s current ability to become pregnant as well as highlight some of the things you should be doing, such as starting to take prenatal vitamins that are high in folic acid to prevent major birth defects such as spina bifida.
Ensuring that you take this step first gives your doctor a chance to go over key details tied to pregnancy such as immunizations or medications.
2. Address any current medical problems
Not surprisingly, pregnancy puts a lot of stress on your body. Therefore, it is essential to take care of any existing health issues before becoming pregnant. The less stress your body is under during conception and pregnancy, the better. Common health issues to consider addressing include things like excessive weight, high blood pressure or pre-diabetes.
3. Reduce stress
Stress is destructive to your overall health if not managed correctly. No matter your gender, stress can play a pivotal role in your overall anxiety and depression levels as well as lead to heart issues and higher blood pressure.
Finding ways to eliminate unnecessary stress in your life before trying to get pregnant is imperative, especially because studies have shown a link between stress and interference with ovulation.
4. Embrace a healthy life
Too often we associate a healthy life with just exercise. Although exercise is important, exercising too much or too intensely can interfere with ovulation. Instead of focusing exclusively on exercising, embrace eating healthier foods, limit your alcohol consumption and exercise moderately on a regular basis.
The easiest way to gauge whether you are exercising too much is to monitor your cycle. If you are getting a period regularly, chances are your exercise routine is in check.
5. Drop your smoking habit
“Smoking while pregnant can harm the fetus and make pregnancy complications more likely,” say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If smoking is something that you do, it might be time to kick the habit. Not only is it bad for your overall health, but it has been shown to interfere with ovulation. Kicking the habit of smoking might be hard, but it will make conception and pregnancy much safer and healthier in the long run, both for you and your baby.
Once you have implemented these changes, track your ovulation so that you can have your romantic moments at just the right time. Doing so will significantly increase your chances of conception.
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