Preconception 101

Lesson 3: Tried and True Tips on Pregnancy Achievement

Proper Prenatal Nutrition

Proper nutrition should begin while pregnancy is still a dream, while you are trying to conceive. Eating all the healthy food groups helps to keep you in optimum health, thus bettering your chances of conceiving. A healthy diet puts you in a state of well being that will benefit both you and the growing baby you will be carrying. Plus, as an added benefit you will feel better and will probably ward off illnesses better if you are eating right.

Even so, with today’s fast-paced diets, most women do not derive all the nutrition their bodies need, especially when creating a baby. It is a smart idea to start taking a good prenatal vitamin while you are in the planning stages of pregnancy. The main reason, and probably the most important reason, is the ingredient folic acid. Folic acid is extremely important to help prevent birth defects, namely neuro tube defects in the baby. If taken right before and most definitely during pregnancy, it will go a long way in the prevention of these birth defects.

Ask your care provider about which brand of prenatal vitamin to take. Some will prescribe a good prenatal, others will say an over-the-counter brand works just as well. The important thing is to make sure it has at least 400mcg of folic acid in each dose. Most multi-vitamins have at least this much. Most over-the-counter prenatal vitamins have 800mcg of folic acid and the prescribed prenatal has a whopping 1000mcg of folic acid. 1000mcg of folic acid is the highest “safe” amount of folic acid to take per day.

Another healthy nutritional habit is drinking water. This is important for so many reasons. Aside from the fact that water is just plain good for you it is a terrific aid in getting pregnant among all the other benefits it bestows upon your body. Doctors say we should drink from 8 to 10 cups of water a day. This is just to maintain what your body needs. However, when you are trying to conceive and when you are pregnant it’s so important to keep the water coming.

Water will increase the chances of conception occurring. This is because drinking plenty of water will help to increase the amount and quality of the fertile-type cervical fluid. The fertile-type cervical fluid is extremely important in conception. It’s the cervical fluid that carries the sperm to the egg. The more you have of it, the better the chances.

The good habit of drinking water is paramount during pregnancy. The benefits of drinking water while pregnant are:

• It helps to prevent bladder and urinary tract infections – which are more common to occur during pregnancy.

• It helps to prevent hemorrhoids – which almost always occur at some point in the pregnancy and especially during the delivery.

• It prevents dehydration. Dehydration is one of the leading causes of preterm labor. This is because dehydration causes contractions which leads to true labor.

You can substitute fruit juices for some of your cups of water. If you absolutely can’t stand the taste of water, try squeezing a wedge of lemon or lime for flavor. Keep a full glass with you through out the day and sip on it often.

See www.modimes.org for more information about proper nutrition during pregnancy.

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