Is your Body Ready to Conceive?
Preconception Checkup and Testing to Consider in the Early Stages of Trying to Conceive
As I reflect on the time before I became pregnant, I can’t help but notice that women are not taught to ask themselves, “how could I prepare my body to be ready to conceive and have the best possible outcome to grow a healthy baby.”
This way of thinking could help so many women and families avoid complications as they prepare for pregnancy. This is why this week’s topic concerns the preconception checkup and additional testing to consider in the early stages of trying to conceive. I invited special guest Dr. Jennifer Horton, a functional doctor, and colleague over at Sattva Health and Wellness in Lakewood, CO, to lead the conversation. You can hear our full conversation on the Rebel Roots Nutrition podcast HERE.
Studies show that nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended. Given this statistic, our conversation began with an emphasis on the importance of contacting your primary care physician well before conception whenever possible. This is a proactive measure to assess general health, potentially impacting fertility. Other appropriate healthcare practitioners capable of this kind of assessment include your family medicine doctor, OBGYN, midwife, nurse practitioner in family medicine, or gynecologist.
The conversation then shifted to what is being assessed during this visit. Conventionally, your practitioner is looking to identify potential health risk factors that might impact the ability to conceive and/or negatively affect the outcome of pregnancy. This includes identifying risky lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption and exposure to other less obvious teratogens such as pollutants and medications. It also involves addressing pre-existing conditions of the mother that put her at greater risk of pregnancy and birth complications.
Some of the common conditions to consider include pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, mom’s immunization status, current medication use, and prior history of miscarriage, preterm birth, etc. Pre-diabetes, for example, can increase a mother’s risk of developing gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes, in turn, can lead to preterm birth, excessive birth weight leading to c-section, future obesity and type 2 diabetes for the baby, and possibly stillbirth. While for the mother, this can lead to high blood pressure and thus preeclampsia, type 2 diabetes postpartum, or increase the risk of c-section delivery.
Certain medications, on the other hand, are considered teratogenic, meaning they can cause birth defects. The acne medication Accutane is one such medication exposing baby to toxic levels of vitamin A. Other medications that have teratogenic effects include seizure medicines, certain antibiotics, and blood pressure monitoring drugs. The immunization status of the mother is also important to consider because many common illnesses, such as measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox, can also cause birth defects if passed from mom to baby.
It will typically be recommended at this check-up to begin taking a prenatal vitamin as well to ensure adequate intake of nutrients necessary to support your body and baby for pregnancy. If there is a known family health history that may indicate any genetic predispositions, or if a couple has been trying for a year without success, a deeper assessment involving more specialized tests may be requested with proper referrals.
Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse. For women over 35, however, this time frame is shortened to 6 months of unprotected intercourse. Some additional labs that may be considered include those assessing progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, FSH, and thyroid hormone levels. Assessment of stress level, structural issues such as fallopian tube blockage, and conditions such as PCOS or endometriosis may also be investigated as potential barriers to natural conception.
Of course, infertility does not just apply to the mother. Male-factor infertility accounts for up to 40% of infertility cases, and this is usually due to low sperm count. For this reason, a sperm analysis is another commonly performed fertility test. Other sperm-related issues include sperm motility, shape, and agglutination. Most of these, however, can be greatly improved with diet and lifestyle applications over 75-90 days, the length of time it can take for sperm regeneration.
In fact, many of the above conditions can be addressed with diet and lifestyle changes. From a functional standpoint, especially when intentionally planning for a baby, preparing the body for conception should begin three months in advance. This provides adequate time to eliminate toxins and introduce adequate nutrients and improve egg and sperm quality.
If you are ready to begin your pregnancy journey, be proactive! Reach out to your medical professional now to access the appropriate testing and assessment to support optimal conception, pregnancy, and birth outcomes. In addition, consider working with a functional doctor or nutrition therapy practitioner to dive deeper into the underlying causes of infertility and support your body safely and naturally with nutrition.
Make sure to watch the full interview with Dr. Horton on the Rebel Roots Nutrition episode on YouTube HERE.
For more personalized support around how to best prepare your body for pregnancy, book a call with Carla at: rebelrootsnutrition@gmail.com,
https://www.rebelrootsnutrition.com/
https://www.rebelrootsnutrition.com/freebie-library
You can find Dr. Horton at:
https://www.drjenniferhorton.com/
And on Instagram at: