Pre-Pregnancy Planning

Posted: Jan. 1, 2004

To improve your overall health and give your new baby the best start possible, a pre-pregnancy visit with your health care provider is one of the most important things you can do, especially if you are over age 30.

At this visit, you can discuss any nutritional needs or health concerns, including mental health concerns that you may have before becoming pregnant.

Review all your medications with your provider, including over-the-counter and prescription medications and ask if it is safe to keep taking them while you are trying to conceive and during pregnancy.

If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, an eating disorder, depression, or other chronic or long-term health conditions, talk with your health care provider about how your condition(s) might affect your health and your pregnancy. There are things both you and your health care provider can do to help you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

Planning Conception
While planning to conceive, you may choose natural planning methods such as the ovulation method (intercourse takes place just before or after ovulation) or the symptothermal method (evaluating fertility based on your daily temperature). Remember: women are more likely to become pregnant if intercourse takes place just before or just after ovulation. This is because the unfertilized egg can live for only 12 to 24 hours in your body.

If you have been trying for a few months with no results, don’t get discouraged. Only 20% of women who are trying to get pregnant are successful on the first attempt, so don’t lose hope or assume something is wrong.

Infertility
It is important to note that women today are often delaying having children until later in life, when they are in their 30s and 40s. While many women in their 30s and 40s have no difficulty getting pregnant, fertility does decline with age.

For women over 40 who cannot achieve pregnancy after six months of trying, it is recommended that they see their health care provider for a fertility evaluation.

It is not uncommon to have trouble becoming pregnant or experiencing infertility (inability to become pregnant after trying for one year). Overall, there are about 2.1 million married couples in America experiencing infertility, and some 9 million women have used fertility treatments.

If you think that you or your partner may be infertile, you can discuss this with a health care provider who can recommend treatments such as drugs, surgery, or assisted reproductive technology.

Source: National Women’s Health Information Center of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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