Contents:
- Medical Video: Before You Get Pregnant
- 1. Reach normal weight
- 2. Avoid consuming fish that contains high mercury
- 3. Consume foods or supplements that contain folate
- 4. Stop smoking
- 5. Stop drinking alcoholic beverages
- 6. Check with your doctor
- 7. Get a vaccine
- 8. Check with the dentist
- 9. Stop using contraception
Medical Video: Before You Get Pregnant
Are you trying to get pregnant? Have you changed your life habits? Changing your life habits into a healthy lifestyle is very important to do before becoming pregnant to ensure you and your baby will be healthy. Babies in the womb need an optimal environment to support their growth and development. So before trying to get pregnant, you should do the following.
1. Reach normal weight
Being overweight or obese before pregnancy can increase your risk of complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, during pregnancy. If this happens, you also develop the risk of having a miscarriage or having a baby with birth defects. In addition, being overweight can also reduce your fertility so that you will be more difficult to get pregnant.
Not only being overweight, lack of weight can be a problem when you are planning a pregnancy. You may have irregular menstrual cycles when you have a lack of weight, so it will also be difficult for you to get pregnant. It's best to change your lifestyle before trying to get pregnant by adopting a healthy lifestyle, eating balanced nutritious foods and doing regular exercise to achieve a normal weight.
2. Avoid consuming fish that contains high mercury
You should avoid consuming fish that contains high levels of mercury, such as fish swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish long before you plan a pregnancy because the levels of mercury that enter the body can accumulate. High levels of mercury in the body during pregnancy can cause you to experience poisoning and can also harm the baby in the womb.
3. Consume foods or supplements that contain folate
You need to consume folate before pregnancy by 400 mcg / day. You must meet these folate needs at least one month before becoming pregnant until 12 weeks' gestation. Filled folate needs can reduce your baby's risk of having birth defects, such as neural tube defect where the fetal spinal cord is not perfectly formed. If you cannot fulfill it from food, you may need to take prenatal vitamins containing folate. In addition, taking a multivitamin containing vitamin B6, before and during the first week of pregnancy can help reduce risk morning sickness.
4. Stop smoking
If you smoke, you should stop and if your husband or someone around you smokes, you should stay away from it. Smoking or breathing cigarette smoke before pregnancy can reduce your ability to get pregnant. In addition, smoking during pregnancy is also at risk for experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, premature babies, and having a low weight baby. Research shows that children who are exposed to cigarettes while in the womb, both from mothers who smoke or mothers who breathe cigarette smoke (passive smoking) are more at risk of developing colic during babies (crying for a long time), are very active in toddlers, and are prone to ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) / hyperactivity and aggressive behavior in children.
So, stop smoking because there are so many risks that can be caused, both for yourself and those around you.
5. Stop drinking alcoholic beverages
In addition to cigarettes, you also have to stay away from drinks that contain alcohol. Alcoholic beverages can increase your risk of miscarriage. No one knows the limits of safe alcohol consumption during pregnancy, so the only way you should do is stop taking it. The more you consume it, the higher the health risks that babies can experience.
6. Check with your doctor
The important thing to do before trying to get pregnant is to check your condition and your partner to see a doctor. Discuss with your doctor about your and your partner's disease history to make sure your body is ready for pregnancy, the contraception you use to determine when you should try to get pregnant, preventive measures so that you do not experience complications during pregnancy, and also to get some vaccines needed by you.
It is very important for you, especially those who suffer from epilepsy, asthma, and diabetes, to check your condition to the doctor before becoming pregnant. If you take drugs, you may need to change your medication because some types of drugs are not safe for consumption during pregnancy.
7. Get a vaccine
Some vaccines may need to be injected with you before becoming pregnant to prevent infectious diseases during pregnancy. Therefore, you need to remember what vaccines you have obtained beforehand. Your doctor may give you MMR Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccines to those of you who have not received the MMR vaccine to prevent infectious diseases during pregnancy that can endanger your baby. Important to remember is that you need a time span of up to 6 months between giving the vaccine until you will try to get pregnant to avoid the risk of the baby's birth defect.
8. Check with the dentist
You also have to maintain your oral health when preparing for pregnancy. Hormonal changes during pregnancy can make you more susceptible to gum disease. Increases in the hormone progesterone and estrogen during pregnancy can cause differences in the reaction of gums to bacteria in plaques, which can cause swelling, redness, and pain when brushing your teeth. Women who maintain oral health can reduce their risk of experiencing this.
9. Stop using contraception
Whatever method of contraception you use, you must leave it before you try to get pregnant. For most women, fertility may return immediately after stopping using contraception. However, your body actually needs time to rid yourself of the effects of hormones contained in contraceptives that contain hormones. You should not use contraception again a few months before you start trying to get pregnant. Let your regular menstrual period come back again, so you will know when the body ovulates.
READ ALSO:
- Tips for Calculating Fertility and Planning for Pregnancy
- How to Choose the Best Vitamins for Pre-Pregnancy
- Why Folic Acid Is Important For Pregnancy
