Getting Pregnant

Getting Pregnant - Pre-conception care is about both parents getting themselves into optimum physical, biochemical and emotional health before trying to conceive. When I first started researching this concept in 1996 there was very little information around. My GP and my OB-GYN told me that there was no "proof" that pre-conception care was effective, because the cause of non-specific infertility (which was what they told me I had) was unknown. This seemed like false logic to me-just because you don't know the cause of the problem doesn't mean that improving your health won't help!

Despite my doctors' comments, my intuition told me there was more to it. A study reported in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine really made me start to believe in the importance of pre-conception care.

In 1995, this Journal published a study that was carried out in the UK by Surrey University and the Association for the Promotion of Preconception Care. In this study, 367 couples were followed for 18 months. Age ranges of the couples were 22 - 45 for the women, and 25 - 59 for the men.

A substantial proportion of the couples had experienced reproductive problems:

* 37% suffered infertility
* 38% had previously miscarried
* 15% had given birth to low birth-weight babies
* 3% had stillborn babies
* 2% had given birth to babies with a malformation.

At the completion of the study, which ran over 18 months:

* 89% of all the couples had given birth.
* 81% of the previously-infertile couples had give birth.
* There were no miscarriages. If a group this size were not following any pre-conception care, you would expect at least 70 of the couples to miscarry.
* There were no perinatal deaths and none of the babies had to be admitted to intensive care.
* There were no malformations. If a group this size were not following any pre-conception care, you would expect about 12 babies to be born with malformations.

I believed I was onto something.My research indicated that it was important for BOTH parents-to-be to prepare their bodies for conception, not just the mother. It also showed that it takes about four months of diligently applying the program, before your bodies will be ready. This is because it can take up to 116 days for the formation of sperm, and about 100 days for eggs to mature. My experience showed that it was vital for me and my husband to be in optimum health before we were able to conceive. Getting Pregnant