Whether you hope to conceive in the next few months or the next few years, it’s never too early (or too late) to improve your preconception wellness and prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy. Taking the right steps now can help you:
At Capital Women’s Care in Frederick and Mount Airy, Maryland, our inclusive obstetric services cover everything from preconception health planning and a full schedule of prenatal care visits to complete labor and delivery support and postpartum guidance.
Read on as our team outlines seven critical steps that every “preconception action plan” should have to help lay the foundation for a healthy pregnancy.
Before trying to conceive a baby, schedule a well-woman exam with our team. This in-depth physical helps establish your preconception health “baseline” and then offers concrete ways to improve. We do this by:
During the pre-pregnancy planning part of your visit, we discuss previous pregnancies and miscarriages, ask questions about lifestyle habits that are relevant to preconception health, and offer adjustment advice and support as needed.
No amount of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, or any other illicit drug is safe during pregnancy, and the best time to ditch these unhealthy habits is before you actively try to conceive.
Besides making it harder to conceive, these habits can affect your baby’s health if you continue to partake once you’re pregnant. Using any substance while pregnant, even at reduced levels of consumption, increases the risk of serious problems like congenital disabilities, preterm birth, low birth weight, developmental delays, and miscarriage.
Pregnancy is called “nature’s stress test” because it places an increased demand on the circulatory, respiratory, joint, and lower back systems. Increasing your physical activity and fitness today is one of the best ways to help your body meet these increased demands when you become pregnant.
Regular exercise—or 30-60 minutes of moderate activity most days—supports optimal preconception wellness, good prenatal health once you conceive, and increased stamina that prepares your body for the physical challenges of labor and delivery.
Just as ultra-processed foods that are rich in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium can lead to poor preconception health, whole, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods that provide essential nutrients, antioxidants, and dietary fiber can improve your health before conception — and keep you and your developing baby healthy through every trimester.
A healthy, balanced diet is a foundational element of good preconception health and optimal prenatal health: When you choose fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, heart-healthy unsaturated fats, and calcium-rich foods over junk food, you nourish your growing baby and have an easier time managing pregnancy weight gain.
If you’re significantly underweight or overweight, you might find it harder to get pregnant. In both cases, working to reach a healthier weight before conception can help support a healthier pregnancy overall — and a healthier start for your newborn.
Being overweight or obese elevates your risk of pregnancy and delivery complications while being underweight increases the likelihood of delivering an underweight baby.
At least three months before you begin trying to get pregnant, take a daily prenatal vitamin that provides 400-800 micrograms (mg) of folic acid. This essential B vitamin helps prevent serious birth defects in your baby’s brain and spinal cord during the first trimester.
Are you ready to improve your preconception health? Our Capital Women’s Care team is here to help. Call today to schedule a visit at your nearest office in Frederick or Mount Airy, Maryland.
