Wanting to fall pregnant soon? Follow these tips.
It takes 100 days for an egg to mature fully. Preconception care is one of the most important steps to take to help your baby’s health.
Here are my top tips for preconception care:
Reduce endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) — these are toxins that impact your hormones. Switch out your makeup, deodorant, skincare, shampoos, soaps, household cleaners etc for low-tox natural options. Swap plastics for glass and wood, and throw out your non-stick pans and use cast iron or stainless steel (and plsss stop using perfumes and candles — ode is accepted though xx)
Get comprehensive blood work done — you should be aiming to get FBC, hormonal panel (on 2 separate days of your cycle because your hormones fluctuate throughout your cycle), nutrient status, full thyroid panel, fasting glucose, insulin, inflammatory markers & preconception panel at a minimum! Then book in with a Naturopath to go over these with optimal reference ranges, not standard GP ranges!
Start using a good quality preconception supplement — this includes your partner too! (do not touch Elevit!).
Track your ovulation & cycle — getting to know when your fertile window is will help you to know when you can conceive! Use Tempdrop or Oura to track your basal body temperature too (don’t rely on your period tracking app to tell you when you are ovulating!).
Minimise your caffeine intake — try swapping to a matcha or just having 1 coffee AFTER food! Aim to stop drinking alcohol too.
Eat enough food! Eat lots of good quality protein and healthy fats - you need these for healthy hormone production.
Opt for organic fruit & veg where you can — if you’re not able to, use a good fruit & veg wash like Koala.
Invest in a water filter — there are so many toxins in tap water! I love and recommend Village Pottery for water filters.
Nourish your nervous system — ever heard anyone say “We got pregnant when we stopped stressing about it”? Your HPA axis (nervous system) is directly linked to your HPO axis (hormones). In order to support your hormones, you need to support your nervous system! Find an exercise that you love (I’m a big fan of Pilates & swimming)! Make sure you are getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep each night and incorporate some breath work, yoga or meditation into your daily routine!
These are my top tips for the preconception phase, however, there is so much more that also can be done!
I’m a big believer that preconception care can never start too early. The more you know your body and your cycle, the better for not only your future bub, but for you too (even if you don’t want kids)! You can follow these tips for just making sure that you have healthy hormones too (apart from taking a preconception multi).
Reach out if you’d like to chat further about starting your preconception care, or book in a consultation with me!