What is Preconception Care and Why Does it Matter?
Preconception care aims to identify health risks to a woman or to the pregnancy outcome using prevention strategies. In fact, there are many steps you can take prior to conception or early in your pregnancy, that maximize the health outcome for you and your baby. The approach you take can be anywhere from establishing a spiritual connectio, to prenatal vitamins, or full on cleansing and priming.
Each woman is different in what she feels is necessary for her to have a successful and healthy pregnancy. I personally spent two years preparing for the pregnancy of my second son, due to a toxic mold exposure that really took a toll on my health. I wanted to make sure my body was clean, strong, and suitable for growing another human being for nine months! I performed several cleanses, regulated my cycles, repleted lost nutrients, and achieved a conscious conception with my husband.
Why did I think this was so important?
Preconception health is not just for your unborn child. It is also for you, and it impacts your lineage, including your children’s children and their children and so on. We now know through the study of epigenetics, that what our grandparents did during and before their pregnancy, had a significant impact on our genes; unfortunately, most of this influence changed our genes for the worst.
We all are well-aware of genetics. We all have genes and we will all pass our genes down to our offspring. We cannot change the genes we are born with, but we can however determine if they are turned on or not. This is the process known as epigenetics. The study of epigenetics has shown us that our interaction with the environment changes the way our genes are expressed. This can be for the positive or negative. Our environment includes the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, people that cause us stress, and everything else that we come into contact with on a daily basis. This is why the age old advice of “eat your vegetables and get enough sleep” holds true to this day. Who would have thought, eating more leafy greens can actually make a significant impact on the health of our unborn children?
I often meet with patients that desire to get pregnant right away, and I more frequently than not advise them to wait at least four to six months before trying to conceive. Even if they live a healthy lifestyle. This is because both men and women need at least four months to produce clean sperm and egg. Whatever you do during that four months will impact the creation of his sperm and the health of her egg. This means any illnesses, toxic exposure, poor food quality and so forth may impact the genes of your offspring, the way his sperm swim, and whether her egg and uterus is healthy enough to be fertilized and achieve implantation.
Most women have one goal: to make the healthiest baby possible. In our obstetric model, the focus is always on baby, which unfortunately makes the mother a second thought. Although I feel more consideration should be given to the mother, I do understand why our precious babies grab all the attention. Babies are virtually helpless and at the mercy of the mother’s health. It is your job, as their mother, to protect them and provide for them. So, what is the best way to do that? Many will say eat nutritious, organic foods during pregnancy, take prenatal vitamins, get enough exercise, and drink plenty of water. That is all well and good, but I might add that this needs to be in place before conception, and here is why….
Proper preconception care can reduce risk factors of many conditions in both the baby and mother. Childhood conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, allergies, and cancer have all been linked to some environmental threat a mother was exposed to before or during pregnancy.
Preconception care isn’t just about the baby though. It is about the mother preparing her body to remain in a healthy state in the years following the birth of her child. Way too many American women in their 30s are experiencing chronic disease, and a large percentage of them will tell you it all began after the birth of their child. Many traditional cultures across the globe have identified this phenomenon, too. In fact, chronic disease onset usually occurs years before conceiving a child, but the symptoms do not appear until after you become so depleted, stressed, and sleep deprived postpartum.
Being unprepared for the difficult task of creating another human being can set you up for a postpartum period of fatigue, hair loss, depression, and more. Proper preconception care can potentially reduce the incidence or nutrient depletion and chronic disease such as autoimmunity, as well as improve soft tissue healing after childbirth.
Deciding to have a child is the most important decision you will ever make. You are consciously choosing to harbor, birth, nurse, protect, teach, nurture, and love another human being for many, many years to come. Planning and performing preconception care means you are choosing to prepare for this sacred time. My hope is that more women begin to feel connected to their unborn children, even before conception.
The benefits of preconception care are endless. Over the next few months I will be uncovering the facts behind it all. I hope you stay tuned! Learn more about how to successfully prepare in my book, Preparing for Pregnancy: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Enhancing Fertility and Nurturing a Healthy Baby Without Sacrificing Your Health.
References:
Duhon, Sarah. Preparing for Pregnancy: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Enhancing Fertility and Nurturing a Healthy Baby Without Sacrificing Your Health. 2019.
Rauh, V.A. and A.E. Margolis, Research Review: Environmental exposures, neurodevelopment, and child mental health - new paradigms for the study of brain and behavioral effects. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 2016. 57(7): p. 775-93.
Landrigan, P.J., L. Lambertini, and L.S. Birnbaum, A research strategy to discover the environmental causes of autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Environ Health Perspect, 2012. 120(7): p. a258-60.
