A healthy pregnancy is very important for a healthy and strong baby. And a healthy body is important for a healthy pregnancy. If you are thinking of becoming pregnant, there are a number of steps you can take to make your body healthy and better prepared for pregnancy. Often, these steps involve making sure that your hormones are balanced so that you create a healthy and fertile environment for conception.
Here are a few steps you can take to prepare your body for pregnancy and to improve your fertility:
Eat a Healthy Diet
What you eat has a significant impact on your hormonal balance and your overall health. Known hormone wreckers include alcohol, excess caffeine, sugar (including artificial sweeteners), hormone-laden meats and dairy, and processed foods.
Try to focus on eating a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, preferably organic. Choose lean proteins that have not been treated with hormones or other chemicals. Drink a lot of water, and reduce or cut out caffeine and alcohol.
Following these simple rules for your diet will not only improve your fertility, but it will also make your body stronger and healthier for pregnancy.
Choose Healthy Supplements
There are many supplements you can take that specifically help to both balance hormones and to prepare your body for pregnancy. Maca (a root used in South American cultures) and Vitex (from chaste berry) have both been touted as fertility-promoting supplements for their properties that help balance hormones. Both can be taken in powder or pill form.
Red raspberry leaf tea has also long been touted as a wonder tea for pregnancy, from conception to post-partum care. The tea is said to have a toning effect on the uterus, helping to strengthen the muscles to both support a healthy pregnancy and to encourage a speedier delivery with fewer complications. Experts recommend drinking a few cups a day from pre-pregnancy all the way through breastfeeding.
Exercise
Exercise is the foundation for good health, and it is critical to a healthy pregnancy. Make sure you are exercising at least a few times a week to help you get pregnant and sustain a healthy pregnancy. Exercise will not only make your body stronger, but it will also help you to reduce stress, improve your mood, and balance your hormones and other chemicals in your body.
You don’t have to run a marathon to be healthy. Walking a three to five times a week is enough to put you on the road to fitness and to reap all the benefits of exercise.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Getting 8 hours a night (or more) isn’t just for beauty! Getting enough (quality) sleep is essential to maintaining health, reducing stress, and even improving fertility. Sleep deficits have been shown to reduce fertility, increase stress, and impair the healthy functioning of many of the body’s systems. Make sure you get enough sleep each night to ensure optimal health! (Catching up on the weekends doesn’t count…)
Reduce Stress
Stress is a silent killer. It affects every system of the body negatively. Your body’s stress response was designed to save you from dangerous situations – like being eaten by a bear, not being berated by your boss – but chronic exposure to stress has a debilitating effect on the body.
When you experience a stress response, your body shuts down basic “non-essential” functions such as digestion and ovulation. Yes, ovulation. Chronic stress has a direct impact on your fertility. After all, if you’re about to be eaten by a lion (the type of situation for which this system evolved), you don’t need to worry about making babies.
Improve your fertility and your overall wellness by eliminating stress where you can. Find ways to relax through meditation, exercise, increased sleep, and even a healthy diet.
Getting pregnant requires a lot more than making sure you know when you’re ovulating. You must ensure that your body is prepared by following a healthy diet, exercising, reducing stress, and getting enough sleep. Doing so will ensure that your hormones are in the right balance for fertility and that your body is healthy and strong to sustain a pregnancy.
