How to prepare for a healthy pregnancy:
From the moment the possibility of pregnancy is considered, you have to start taking care of yourself. Your body must be healthy as it will have a very important mission ahead to create a new life.
It will house your baby for nine months, so it is necessary that you start taking care of yourself before you get pregnant or that you take extra care if you already did. Specialists consider it essential for the proper development of the pregnancy that the woman enjoys good health at the time of pregnancy and prepares for a healthy pregnancy.
If you plan to look for a baby there are certain recommendations that you cannot ignore.
Tips to prepare for a healthy pregnancy
Medical consultation before conceiving
The first thing you should do is go to a pre-conception medical consultation. It is a custom that is not very widespread but it is extremely convenient. They recommend doing it about three months before starting to look for pregnancy because doctors consider this visit to be as important as prenatal check-ups. In it, your gynecologist will check you to check that everything is to face pregnancy. He will investigate your medical history to detect possible risks in pregnancy.
Aspects such as weight, age, diseases, previous interventions, or if you take any medication are facts that the specialist should know to help you plan a healthy pregnancy. You will likely carry out studies to analyze your general health in case you need a vitamin supplement.
In this consultation, the gynecologist will recommend, if necessary, a consultation with a geneticist. Couples who have a history of a relative with a known congenital defect will undergo a genetic study that will identify the degree of risk of transmitting the defect to the baby.
Read Also: Choosing between cesarean section or vaginal delivery
Take folic acid
Your gynecologist will surely tell you to start taking a daily dose of folic acid, an essential vitamin to prevent neural tube defects in babies.
When you find out that you are pregnant it may be too late to prevent a congenital defect such as anencephaly or spina bifida, since the formation of the neural tube occurs in the first weeks of gestation when you still do not know that you are pregnant. If you have not taken it before, as soon as you know about your pregnancy you should start doing it.
Control your weight
Both obesity and eating an extreme diet could affect your pregnancy. According to experts, fat cells produce hormones and other molecules that negatively influence different organic processes such as the endocrine function of adipocytes.
In other words, obesity is an organic state of chronic inflammation that leads to hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and coagulation disorders. All these diseases negatively influence the development of pregnancy.
We must also put the focus of attention on the opposite extreme. That of women who are subjected to extreme diets, in the case of protein and dissociated diets. The first, he points out, produces a state of generalized inflammation, with the production of acidosis (existence of too much acid in body fluids), which ends up affecting the kidney.
In addition to the kidney, in the dissociated diet, which does not mix certain food groups, the liver is damaged. This diet is also responsible for nutritional deficiencies and produces a very important rebound effect.
Avoid medications
You cannot take any medications if you plan to get pregnant, except those that are prescribed by your doctor in the indicated doses.
Most drugs are contraindicated during pregnancy as some can cause abnormal growth of fetal cells. If you follow any treatment (also homeopathic) you should mention it to the doctor in the pre-pregnancy consultation.
Stop harmful habits
Of course, you must put aside tobacco and alcohol (and of course any other type of drug) due to the serious consequences that the consumption of these substances can cause in the fetus, even by the father.
From increased chances of the baby developing serious diseases, delayed intrauterine growth, coronary risks to mental retardation, to name a few of the effects they can cause.
A complete and varied diet
Eating is a special chapter in pregnancy planning. It is not necessary to eat more but to eat better. The diet should be complete and varied, moderately increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and fish. You should start reducing the consumption of fats, as well as foods with excess sugar.
About the latter, blood sugar levels, there is research that suggests that they are the key to determining the sex of the baby, so choosing certain foods in the diet before pregnancy could influence the choice of sex.
Good eating habits should be a constant throughout your life. But before and throughout pregnancy they are especially important, both for your own health and that of your baby.
Do physical exercise for a healthy pregnancy
Physical exercise is also essential to be in shape and for weight to be controlled when you get pregnant. We do not recommend the practice of violent sports, but the moderate practice is beneficial for both the mother and the future baby. We recommend you to read another article which is about Yoga during pregnancy