A healthy pregnancy starts months before conception - planning is everything

The modern environment we live in, alongside the highly processed foods we eat and the high toxic pollutant exposure we have in our everyday lives, puts significant challenges in the way of fertility in males and females. 

Any positive changes that you can make at this stage will have a direct impact on the health of Mum and Baby at all other stages – conception, pregnancy, birth and breast feeding is a sequential process so every step effects the next!


Around 40% of fertility problems have a male factor involvement and the main cause of miscarriages before 12 weeks is male sperm health. 

CHECKING YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK…

Even if you have no known fertility issues, ensuring a nutrient dense diet and minimising any risk factors before getting pregnant is still crucial to grow a nutrient dense healthy placenta.

After conception the first thing the body does is grow a whole new organ (the placenta), which is crucial to the health of the developing foetus. The placenta continues to grow throughout the pregnancy and, since the placenta is the sole nourishment for the baby, a key goal for any mother is to improve her health so that she can make the healthiest most nourishing placenta.

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO… 
At the risk of stating the obvious, this is a team effort. The preconception phase is the most important time for men to be on-board and looking after themselves since the 3 months prior to conception is when they need to grow the healthiest, fittest sperm they can. Sperm is highly sensitive to oxidative stress, toxins and inflammation and this can significantly impact the health and viability of a pregnancy.

INFERTILITY ISSUES… 
If you suffer from any condition that impacts your menstrual cycle, leading to irregular periods, no periods or horrible PMS then ovulation may be impacted making conception much harder – nutritional changes can have big impacts on the following conditions;

> Hypothyroidism
> PCOS
> Endometriosis
> Low or high fat mass
> Type 2 diabetes

Aside from these, there are multiple mechanisms that may interact negatively for fertility, some of which will not show up in mainstream fertility testing. Sadly, many couples are just told they have unexplained fertility and offered IVF treatment.

 Using a holistic approach that considers how all mechanisms in the body interact with each other can help to unravel some of the issues that may be blocking a natural conception and healthy pregnancy. Whilst I am in no way saying that nutritional therapy can get everyone pregnant, I think it is a crucial first step to take if you are having difficulty conceiving naturally.

Even If you are already committed to IVF treatment then all the above points still apply - nutritional therapy can really help to optimise your health for a successful implantation, growing a healthy and robust placenta, followed by an uncomplicated pregnancy. Please do consider it alongside any other fertility treatment you may be undertaking.


And this takes us neatly into Stage 2...

a healthy pregnancy