Pre-Pregnancy planning checklist - 10 steps towards healthy pre pregnancy planning.

INTRODUCTION:

Pre pregnancy planning is necessary to prevent complications in pregnancy and birth defects in fetus which may be lifelong.

Pregnancy is beautiful phase in every woman's life. A healthy baby is the wish of everyone and in order to nurture a healthy fetus women has to be healthy too. Here are few pre pregnancy checklist you can follow :

1. Eat food rich in folic acid :
Folic acid is very essential to prevent birth defects specially Spina bifida. Healthy nervous system formation in fetus requires folic acid .

Folic acid rich food includes:

Green leafy vegetables specially spinach.

Citrus fruits



Egg




Beetroot 




Broccoli 

RDA(Recommended Daily Intake):

• 400 mcg of folic acid . If you are planning for pregnancy you can take upto 800 mcg.

Eat nutritious diet: 

• Include Iron containing foods like green leafy vegetables, dates,
• If your anaemic, stabilise your haemoglobin levels.

ALSO REFER :
https://www.divyawrites.com/2019/01/5-tips-to-prevent-iron-deficiency.html

• Eat calcium rich diet ex: milk,curd, paneer, tofu.

2. Stop  alcohol and smoking:

If you consume alcohol and smoke, stop it completely.  This is known to cause alot of growth impairments in fetus. Stop it at earliest if your planning for pregnancy as it releases poor quality of eggs for conception and it causes growth impairment of fetus which may continue for lifelong.

3. Cut down on caffeinated drinks:

2 cups of caffeinated drinks like coffee, green tea included is fine but not more than that.

4. Lead stress free life :

Practice yoga , meditation if you are in stress as this heavily impacts the conception and whole pregnancy.

5. Drink adequate amount of water :

Stay hydrated which also prevents urinary tract infections .

6. Take daily dose of vitamin D:

Expose yourself to sunlight early morning or evening. This gives vitamin D which is necessary for calcium absorption.

ALSO REFER :
https://www.divyawrites.com/2018/11/mrs.html Know your family history  : 

If there is any genetic diseases in family like haemophilia, thalassemia etc.. go for genetic screening and advice from doctor. 

7. Maintain healthy weight:

Lead physically active lifestyle .Maintain healthy weight . Avoid junk and unnecessary overeating. 

• It is found that women who are underweight have difficulty in conceiving and produce underweight babies.
• Women on other hand who are overweight may experience pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes as complications.

8. Do not take over counter medications :

Do not take hormonal medications to delay or prepone periods without advice from doctor for long term if you are planning for pregnancy.

9. Avoid junk food :

Junk food is unhealthy with lots of preservatives harmful for health .

10. Adequate sleep :

Sleep for 8 hours a day. It helps in detoxification and de stressing promoting good health.

Conclusion:

There is increased medically induced abortion rates these days. Factors may be many .From diet to stress levels. If it is your first pregnancy you may be worried or your work tensions are high.  Identify source of stress and try to remove or reduce it. Finally I am ending this blog wishing a happy pregnancy to all who are planning.If you have any more tips , please leave in your comments.

Thank you , 

Divya Lokesh.