7 Things You Can Do To Prepare For A Healthy Pregnancy

When preparing for pregnancy you want to make sure you are starting with healthy parents! Well nourished parents will provide a high quality egg and sperm to make the child.

Beyond this the woman’s nutrient stores are critical for the babies development. The woman needs enough of every nutrient for both herself and her baby. Deficiencies lead to malformations and health problems. For example retinol vitamin A deficiency can lead to malformed organs or poor eyesight. (1, 2, 3)

For thousands of years our ancestors had special practices around preparation for pregnancy. Sally Fallen, President of the Weston A Price Foundation, described one of these customs, “… in the Swiss Alps, the couples, before their marriage, would eat this special butter that came from the cows. When they first went to pasture in the spring, it was a nutrient-dense butter, high in Vitamins A, D, and K.” (2)

Many cultures had similar practices usually centered around eating a specific food like shark liver oil, fish eggs, egg yolks, butter, whole raw milk, liver, or other organs for at least 6 months before the couple could start trying to conceive. (1, 2, 3)

So what are some things you can do to prepare for a healthy pregnancy?

1) Eat A Nutrient Rich Diet-

Prioritize nutrient rich foods like those listed above and get plenty of high quality animal foods. Also avoid inflammatory foods and empty Calorie foods like vegetable oils, processed foods, prepackaged foods, and refined carbs.

2) Avoid Hormone Disrupters-

Avoid hormonal birth control, plastic, silicon, foods high in phytoestrogens (like soy, flaxseeds, alcohol, wheat, raw cruciferous veggies, and licorice), receipts, most cleaning products, most beauty products, nonstick cookware, food preservatives, and food dyes. All of these interfere with hormonal balance leading to estrogen dominance and decreased fertility.

3) Manage Stress-

If you’re too stressed your body will prioritize making cortisol over making sex hormones (like testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen), it will waste nutrients, and signal to your body that it might be an unsafe time to bring a baby into the world. Consequently this will decrease your fertility and deplete your nutrient stores.

4) Detox-

Detoxing helps increase sperm and egg quality, increase fertility, and decreases the toxins you could pass to your child in the womb. Make sure to take a break from cleansing while pregnant or you could increase your child’s exposure to toxins during detoxes. For more info on detoxing, check out my In Depth Guide On How To Detox And Cleanse Your Body.

5) Make Sure You’re A Healthy Body Fat-

Both too low and too high of body fat makes it difficult to get pregnant. A body fat of around around 19-24% is ideal for most women trying to conceive. A healthy body fat is important for men as well. It impacts their hormone levels, fertility, and sperm quality. For men I recommend a body fat percentage around 7-16%.

6) Pregnancy Spacing-

Pregnancy spacing has been practiced by our ancestors for a long time. The idea is to wait a minimum of 3 years between pregnancies to allow your body to replenish your nutrient stores and properly prepare for your next child. This will ensure the health of both yourself and your children. (1, 2, 3)

7) Learn To Track Your Cycle-

Many people don’t know this, but you can only get pregnant roughly 6 days out of your menstrual cycle. Pregnancy can only take place during ovulation (when one ovary releases an egg). The egg will stay in a women’s body for around 24 hours, if it’s not fertilized it will be passed and the chance for pregnancy missed. (4)

Most sperm will not live longer than 2 days in a woman’s uterus, but some can live up to 5 days. If they’re early and survive, they’ll patiently wait for a chance to fertilize the egg. This is how we get the roughly 6 day fertile window. (4)

To learn how to track your cycle and fertility, look into the fertility awareness method. For this I highly recommend the book “Taking Charge Of Your Fertility,” by Toni Weschler. Learning this before start trying to conceive, will help increase your chances of getting pregnant sooner!

It should also be noted that the sooner you start with these the better! Even if you don’t want to have kids for a few years, starting these things now will better ensure you are healthy and able when you and your partner are ready. Also for more information on preparing for a healthy pregnancy as well as nutrition and lifestyle advice for pregnancy, I highly recommend the book “Real Food For Pregnancy,” by Lily Nichols.

Works Cited

1. Shanahan, Catherine. Deep Nutrition. New York: Flat Iron Books. 2016. Print.

2. Labrada Gore Hilda. “How To Have A Healthy Pregnancy.” The Weston A Price Foundation. 7 December 2020. https://www.westonaprice.org/podcast/how-to-have-a-healthy-pregnancy/

3. Price, Weston. “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.” California: Price-Pottenger Nutritional Foundation. 2014. Print.

4. De La Cruz, Loren. “Do you know your fertile window?” Innate Nutrition. Accessed 13 October 2021. https://www.innate-nutrition.com/blog/can-you-get-pregnant-on-your-period