5 Steps to getting ready to start your family

If you are thinking of starting a family I would start preparing for over 6months to a year. A good place to start is to see a practitioner who can assess your hormones and gut health. In a world where , lets face it, our diet choices can be questionable and toxic environmental load is high you give yourself the best chance to fall pregnant by working on your health and getting it to the best place.

Things I did to prepare for my pregnancy. In my mind its better to do this before than to implement it when you are having trouble conceiving and looking to medical intervention. Also why wouldn't you want to pass the healthiest of gut microbes to your future child.

Of course this also means your partner should look at these steps too as his health effects his sperm as well as the healthier he is the better he will be able to support you through pregnancy, birth and parenthood.

STEP 1:

Switch to a whole food diet - this means trying to eat food that hasn't been processed or refined. As much as possible eat organic and choose hormone free grass fed meat . Unfortunately our food is sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals which are toxic to our bodies. Make sure your water is filtered. Take your prenatal vitamins and other key nutrients.

STEP 2: 

Tap into your energy levels . Do you wake up with energy ? Do you have mid afternoon crashes ? Are you wired or tired ? Are you burnt out? If there are issues around this, now is a good time to address this. Ways we improve this in clinic is addressing lifestyle factors such as work hours, stress, sleep and also using targeted herbs, minerals and vitamins to build energy and reserve back into your system.

STEP 3: 

How is your gut health and vaginal health ? Do you suffer from bloating, constipation , reflux , diarrhoea and those general IBS symptoms? Do you get thrush or bacterial vaginosis? These are all signs that your gut or vaginal microbiome are not balanced. At the clinic we use testing and treatment to balance this so that you feel good and you also pass on healthy microbes to your future baby.

STEP 4: 

Stress is a major component to optimising your body and preparing for fertility. Working through marital and family issues before conceiving and developing strategies for managing stress is really important. Regular acupuncture is a great way to balance the nervous system prior to conceiving. Brainstorming ideas with your partner on how you are both going to support each other during pregnancy and having a newborn is important. Things to chat about : meal services, paid support and who in your circle will be there for you?

STEP 5: 

Hormone health can be a key issue for fertility. Exploring symptoms around your cycle and correcting these things can be important. Do you have PMS, irregular cycles or period pain? We offer blood tests and specialised testing to look at these in more detail as well as looking at possibilities such as endometriosis and PCOS.

Addressing these things prior to conceiving places you in the best place to fall pregnant and even if you do not, you are in the healthiest of places to support falling pregnant with medical fertility treatments with a network of practitioners, that you have built over this period, that you trust.

Theses blog posts are not there to treat or diagnose. Please always consult a medical practitioner in regards to any health concerns you have. If you would like to make an appointment please contact us on info@dranjana.com.