One mom wrote into us with the following question: My husband and I are about to start trying for a baby and I was wondering if there is anything specific I should do to prepare for pregnancy? Should I be cutting anything out of my diet or do more exercise? Will anything help me conceive faster? We turned to our colleague, Dr. Linda Ducholke, to get advice from a professional.

Folic Acid

She answered that as long as you are a healthy person in general there is nothing you really need to do to prepare your body for pregnancy.  You should be taking a vitamin with at least 1mg of Folic Acid in it to help prevent the development of neural tube defects in the fetus at conception and, if possible, this should be started at least three months prior to conception.

Exercise for Preparing for Pregnancy

Exercise is always a good thing and if you are not a regular exerciser it would be a good idea to start a walking program to work on your stamina. Labour and delivery are very demanding times and require stamina to manage them successfully.  Unfortunately, there is nothing to help you conceive faster-just enjoy yourselves, this shouldn’t be viewed as a job.

Eliminating Bad Habits

Now is a great time to evaluate your overall health. When I was wanting to conceive, my partner took the opportunity to work on his own health as well. Take stock of alcohol use, smoking, drugs, body fat and sleep. I remember trying to walk 10,000 steps each day, and add greens to my diet whenever possible. Even drizzling extra dried oregano on pizza helps us get more greens! I’ve spoken to so many moms who commented that reducing their stress levels truly made a difference in their ability to conceive, and then the way their pregnancies transpired.

We have a great article on staying healthy during a winter pregnancy, trying to conceive, and you can also test out the Urban Mommies Ovulation Predictor Tool.