How To Prepare For Pregnancy

Visit your gynaecologist

Talk to your gynaecologist about your desire to have children. He knows you best and will certainly have valuable and individual advice ready for you.

Visit your dentist

This might not come to your mind as one of the first things that prepare for pregnancy, but it doesn't hurt to make an appointment with your dentist and have your teeth checked. This will allow you to perform any necessary procedures before you are pregnant. You should also think about exchanging your amalgam fillings for plastic or ceramic fillings. It has been proven that amalgam-filled teeth can be a grand risk to health.

Nutrition

Eat a healthy and balanced diet with foods rich in vitamins and minerals such as fresh fruit, salads and vegetables, wholemeal and dairy products as well as meat (in moderation!), fish, eggs and nuts. This way you can replenish your body's stores with important micronutrients and ensure that they remain constantly enriched.

Folic acid is the "pregnancy vitamin"

This B vitamin (vitamin B9) not only supports all cell division processes, but also the normal growth of maternal tissue and blood formation. It is also important for the functioning of the immune system and has the good property of reducing fatigue. For the emergence of a new life, the vitamin is therefore of the greatest importance, because 100 billion new cells are formed from a fertilized egg cell! Even at the beginning of pregnancy - when most women do not even know that they are pregnant - folic acid closes the embryonic neural tube. This neural tube later develops into the central nervous system, the spinal cord and the brain. Accordingly, a low folate level is a risk for the development of neural tube defects in the foetus. Therefore, all women of childbearing age should be sufficiently supplied with folic acid by the time they wish to have children at the latest! It is very difficult to cover the increased need for the vitamin through food alone. In addition, it is very sensitive to heat and light and can be destroyed to a large extent during the preparation of food. Therefore, take an appropriate dietary supplement in addition. This will ensure a sufficient intake of folic acid and you are on the safe side.

Fertile days

In order to become pregnant, you should know your fertile days. There are many ways and methods to do so, with hormonal based fertility tracking being the most efficient- the more hormones measured, the better.

Cigarettes, alcohol and drugs

If you wish to have children, it is best to avoid harmful substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and drugs immediately. Their effects on fertility are proven to be negative and taboo during pregnancy and lactation.

Exercise

Keep physically fit! Because frequent exercise - especially in the fresh air - stimulates your circulation, ensures mental balance and has a positive effect on your hormone balance. But don't exaggerate it - high-performance sport means permanent stress for your body and can go backwards.

Stress

In general, you should avoid too much stress as this can lead to an irregular cycle and strain fertility. For example, the stress hormone adrenaline is an antagonist of fertility hormones and causes eggs to mature slowly. So make sure you get enough sleep and take a break every now and then.