Every woman wants to be a mother and experience this special feeling one day. To have a comfortable and healthy period, it is very important to take some precautions not only during pregnancy but before conception.
What is pre-pregnancy planning?
Your healthcare provider can evaluate your overall health and help you identify lifestyle changes that can increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy planning will be especially useful if you or your partner are experiencing any health problems.
Parent candidates who decide to become pregnant should first be examined by a gynecologist and obstetrician. It should not be expected to get pregnant for this. To have a healthy, comfortable, and beautiful pregnancy period, a regular and good plan should be made. Some tasks need to be done to realize the idea of getting pregnant. For this, the doctor should be consulted not after the pregnancy occurs, but when it is decided to become pregnant.
Quitting smoking
The first point that a woman planning to have a child should pay attention to is to quit smoking before pregnancy. Many studies show that tobacco use decreases female fertility and male sperm count. Also smoking during pregnancy; preterm birth causes many health problems such as low birth weight in baby, placental problems, miscarriage, stillbirth, cleft lip/palate.
Regular nutrition before pregnancy
Regular feeding is very important for the realization of pregnancy. You should pay attention to your diet and should eat only fresh fruits and properly vegetables whenever possible by avoiding fatty and unhealthy foods. If you are feeding a cat and your toxoplasma tests show that you have not had this disease, you should be careful not to contact the cat’s stool during the care of the cat. As an additional precaution, you should give up raw meat consumption to protect against toxoplasma. Considering that you can become pregnant at any time, you should not use drugs that will harm your pregnancy and inform your doctor about this. You should stay away from places where there is a risk of radiation. In case of pregnancy has not occurred as planned, you should not create anxiety as this further can creates a negative effect on your pregnancy plans. You should also stay away from stress. High heat, especially sauna and hot water baths negatively affect sperm production.
Vitamin supplements and balanced nutrition
Prenatal vitamin supplements before pregnancy, especially taking 400 mg folic acid daily, reduces the injuries in the cerebrospinal system that may occur in the baby. Also, it plays an important role in balanced nutrition in addition to vitamin supplements before and during pregnancy. If anemia is detected in the expectant mother, treatment should be applied before pregnancy. It would be appropriate for a vegetarian mother to take Vitamin B-12 and D supplements.
Stop drinking alcohol
It is also very important that you completely stop the alcohol intake in the second half of the cycle before you become pregnant. Because even in babies of mothers who drink a small amount of alcohol during pregnancy, low birth weight and developmental delay can be observed. If the amount of alcohol taken daily is high, developmental delay, mental retardation, disorders of the skeletal system, problems of the heart, liver, and reproductive system may occur.
Get your dental treatment
When planning a pregnancy, it is necessary to make sure that the teeth and gums are healthy. Completing the treatments for the problems in the mouth before pregnancy facilitates this process. The risk of gum disease during pregnancy is higher, and gum disease can even cause premature birth. For this reason, oral and dental control should be performed before pregnancy and good oral hygiene should be gained.
It may be best to see your doctor and undergo a thorough health check before seeking advice to become pregnant. With this check, if any medical problems need to be fixed before you become pregnant, you will have the opportunity to overcome this problem.
You will also have the opportunity to talk about many important topics, such as obtaining information about pregnancy, asking questions in mind, and learning the doctor’s advice on drug use.
In the meantime, let’s say that part of the doctor’s control should be part of the dental checkup. It should even be noted that seeing the dentist is one of the most important parts of the health check. This is because pregnancy hormones can aggravate mouth and gum problems.
Also, some research suggests that some complications encountered during pregnancy are associated with gum disease. Therefore, instead of sitting in the dentist’s chair during pregnancy, we recommend that you perform dental procedures such as dental x-ray, filling, and dental surgery before pregnancy.
Blood type Complete blood count Complete urinalysis Hunger blood sugar, urea, creatinine, AST, ALTTSHTORCH (toxoplasma, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpesvirus antibodies) Hepatitis B antigen and antibody Varicella Zoster (chickenpox) antibody
The purpose of performing these tests 3 months before pregnancy is to determine the resistance status of the expectant mother against diseases that can be protected by vaccination and to gain time for vaccination. Rubella (rubella), cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B, and chickenpox are diseases that can be resisted by vaccination. Especially since the rubella vaccine is made using live attenuated viruses, it should be given 3 months before getting pregnant.
Rh and ABO incompatibility is detected between the spouses by blood type determination. The TSH test gives information about the working status of the thyroid gland and corrects functions with the drug before pregnancy if necessary. In addition to these basic tests, additional examinations that anamnesis and examination may require are completed and it is ensured that the pregnant candidate ceases to be protected under the most suitable conditions possible.
Be in your ideal weight
Both overweight and expectant mother’s weaknesses are problems that must be corrected before getting pregnant for a healthy baby. Losing weight during pregnancy is not correct; so try to get down to your ideal weight before getting pregnant. Excess weight and obesity also cause decreased fertility; Diabetes during pregnancy, hypertension, large baby birth, birth defects, cesarean delivery, and childhood obesity can also lead to an important health problem. If your body mass index is over 25, it means overweight and body fat rate is high. Having a body mass index below 18 may also cause the expectant mother to face infertility and lead to health problems.
Take a folic acid supplement
The most common disability in infants is the group called “neural tube defects”. This problem, which consists of problems in the region from the brain to the coccyx, is mainly associated with folic acid deficiency. The critical point here is; folic acid intake should be taken before the formation of pregnancy. Folic acid supplement, taken 400 micrograms per day from the 3 months before pregnancy, prevents the occurrence of neural tube disorders. Folic acid is found in citrus, green leafy vegetables, nuts, almonds, and legumes. Do not forget to use multivitamins or folic acid tablets containing 400 mg folic acid in addition to folic acid you will receive with natural foods from the period before pregnancy.
Exercise regularly and reduce stress
Regular exercise before pregnancy is important for a more comfortable pregnancy period. Yoga and Pilates are the most preferred exercises for expectant mothers during and before pregnancy. As it relaxes the body, it increases the motivation of mothers who plan a normal birth and reduces back and low back pain as well as stress, and it helps the expectant mothers before and after pregnancy.
Laboratory reviews
After the history and examination, it is necessary to examine the factors that cannot be determined by these. This examination is done with the help of the laboratory. Routine tests are required in people who do not have any known disease. Routine tests are:
Complete blood count
- Complete urine test
- Blood groups of parents
- Toxoplasma-related tests
- Rubella (rubella) tests
- Hepatitis B-related tests
- Fasting blood glucose (AKŞ) is not recommended recently, because AKŞ only shows obvious diabetes that exists. Instead, screening test with 50 grams of glucose can give more important information.
Apart from these, if there is a specific complaint or finding, investigations are made accordingly. For example, in the presence of menstrual irregularities, detailed hormone examination may be necessary, including thyroid and prolactin hormones. When a pathology other than the gynecological disease is detected, your doctor will ask for a consultation from the relevant branch.
Are there any foods I should avoid before pregnancy?
If you are not yet pregnant, you do not need to restrict your diet too much. However, you can start a healthier start by reducing certain foods that you should stay away from after you get pregnant. So you will be more comfortable when you find out that you are pregnant.
- Vitamin A (retinol) found in animal foods may harm your baby during pregnancy. Therefore, avoid foods containing retinol such as the liver and meat pate. Vitamin A (beta-carotene) found in vegetables is not objectionable.
- Some multi-vitamins and dietary supplements may contain retinol. Use only dietary supplements for pregnant women and be sure to check the content of the product you use.
- Products such as raw or undercooked meat, chicken, fish, and eggs may contain harmful bacteria. When eating these products, make sure they are cooked very well.
- If you are still smoking, quit immediately. If you have trouble quitting smoking, get help.
If you are a coffee lover, you can start reducing your daily caffeine in the pre-pregnancy period. You must not forget; if trying to get pregnant with IVF treatment your intake of caffeine is high, it can reduce the success of treatment.
How many months should a woman prepare for pregnancy?
First of all, the woman should be ready for motherhood physically and spiritually. Especially women who use contraceptive pills should stop taking pills at least 3 months ago and have controlled sexual intercourse in the past period. Folic acid intake of 0.4 mg daily starting from 2 months before conception and continuing in the first 3 months of pregnancy is highly recommended. The use of folic acid reduces the chances of a problem in the nervous system of the baby by 80 percent. If the mother has such a problem with baby in a previous pregnancy, folic acid use is 4 mg per day is a must If a family already has a nervous system problem baby; In the next pregnancy, the probability of having the same problem to a baby increases 3-5 percent more.
When to start folic acid before pregnancy?
It is recommended that expectant mothers considering conception to start using folic acid at least six weeks before the start of pregnancy and the use of folic acid for the first three months of pregnancy. Folic acid used to reduce the risk of anomaly is an important vitamin used for cell growth, division, and removal of DNA damage. Here’s what you need to know about folic acid use in pregnancy
It is known that the main reason for the use of folic acid is to reduce the risk of an anomaly called the neural tube effect in the baby. Neural tube defects include brains and spinal cord development disorders such as spinal bifid, meningomyelocele, and anencephaly. Those who decide to become mothers must start folic acid before pregnancy and use it regularly. Developmental disorders are more common in people with low socioeconomic status. It can be detected by looking at methods such as ultrasonography and AFB. These developmental disorders are not treated, but they are anomalies that may need to be terminated.
Take a pregnancy supplement while planning your pregnancy
Pregnancy is one of the periods when the need for nutrition increases most in a woman’s life, and the importance of good nutrition for the mother is accepted for the health of both mother and baby.
During pregnancy, the need for some essential nutrients increases. Taking a pregnancy multivitamin and mineral supplement recommended by your doctor can help provide the necessary nutrients and meet the needs of both mother and baby.
The first weeks of pregnancy are when your baby’s vital organs begin to form, and you may not even know that you are pregnant at that time, so you can start taking a pregnancy supplement daily at least 1 month before trying to get pregnant.
Some foods pass from ear to ear among women to get pregnant. Besides the fact that they have no scientifically proven effects, the number of women who try and get pregnant is also quite high. Among these nutrients, for example, the fig is known to facilitate getting pregnant due to its egg cracking feature. Dry onion is said to have positive effects on the quality of the uterus and eggs. Some women try foods such as honey, cinnamon, black seed, and get positive results. All of these nutrients have different positive effects during pregnancy. Some increase the quality of the egg to be fertilized, some accelerate the growth of the egg, and some help crack the egg. The common point of all is to increase the rate of women getting pregnant.
Important points:
- It is not possible to know in advance whether it is possible to conceive. No physician or person can guarantee anybody whether or not they can have children. Of course, there are exceptions to this. Couples made up of individuals without a uterus or testicles do not naturally have a pregnancy. However, it should not be forgotten that there is inexplicable infertility in 15% of cases, even if there are no anatomical problems.
- When deciding to conceive, the first thing to do naturally is to stop being protected. Depending on the method applied, it may take up to 0-3 months for the reproductive ability to return.
- The best time to conceive is 12-15 years after the onset of bleeding in women who have had one every 28 days for four days.
- Regular sexual life and at least 3 relationships a week are beneficial to increase the chance of conception. 75% of such couples get pregnant within 6 months.
- 15% of couples do not get pregnant after 1 year. These couples should contact the physician for the investigation of infertility.