Healthy Habits Before Pregnancy: 10 Simple Changes to Support a Healthy Pregnancy

I’ve been working with women who are pregnant and postpartum in my community. What I have noticed is that while we may spend months (or even more!) planning our weddings, moving into our first homes and hitting big career milestones, we expect that one of the biggest chapters of our lives — pregnancy — starts as soon as we get a positive result on a pregnancy test.

There seems to be this misunderstanding that when you take your first positive pregnancy test, all preparations for pregnancy can commence. But in reality, many of the nutrition stores, lifestyle choices and health behaviors that lead to a healthy pregnancy start to develop months – even years – prior to conception! This means it’s crucial that we focus on healthy pre-conception habits well before we’re ready to get pregnant.

Your body is an investment, which means how well you treat it will determine the returns. Each balanced meal, restful night, active day and nourishing choice plays a role in creating better health for yourself – and potentially a healthier foundation for when you decide to grow another human being one day.

Between planning your perfect wedding, building up your career, chasing your financial goals and managing your ever-growing to-do list, many women let their own health fall down the list of priorities. But your preconception health isn't solely focused on fertility. It's all about helping your body thrive by providing the nutrients, lifestyle and self-care it needs to function optimally throughout each phase of life, whether pregnancy is on your radar right now or not.

Good news - You don't need an extreme diet, tons of cash on hand to purchase the latest supplement or unrealistic expectations set around what "counts" as exercise or activity. Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest impact!

Why Healthy Habits Before Pregnancy Matter

During pregnancy, you have unique nutritional requirements that are more than just eating well. Your body then starts relying heavily upon your preconception nutrient stores, hormones, healthy organ function, and wellness long before you get pregnant.
Healthy habits before pregnancy may help support your:

• Healthy iron stores
• Adequate folate levels
• Healthy vitamin D and vitamin B12 status
• Blood sugar balance
• A healthy body weight
• Better energy levels
• Heart health
• Bone health
• General reproductive health

Even if you’re months or even years away from becoming pregnant, they will also help to boost your day-to-day wellbeing.

1. Correct Nutrient Deficiencies Before Pregnancy

Just like building a house requires sufficient bricks, cement, and sturdy foundations – you’ll need sufficient stores of certain vitamins and minerals pre-pregnancy to ensure optimal bodily function and help meet the higher nutritional demands associated with pregnancy.

Nutrient deficiency is another commonly overlooked element of our healthy habits pre-pregnancy, yet there are various ways we might notice this occurring. You may find you’re constantly tired, having trouble focusing, experiencing brittle nails or hair loss, being more chilly than usual, or feeling muscle weakness, all of which could indicate potential underlying deficiencies (and indeed other factors).

It’s crucial we take time to talk through any ongoing symptoms with a qualified healthcare professional to determine whether assessments would be helpful to rule out nutrient deficiencies or other conditions, rather than self-diagnosing based solely on general feelings of being “off” or “not quite right”.

The foundation for building healthy nutrient stores during pre-conception should never be an attempt to take every supplement available but instead focus on providing nourishment via food. Whereas all nutrients are important to your health, here are 5 that you could discuss with your healthcare provider prior to conception.

Folic Acid (Vitamin B9)

In the period before pregnancy, folic acid is essential for promoting the development of the fetus at an early stage. The majority of healthcare professionals recommend taking this vitamin in advance as the development of the neural tube occurs very early in your pregnancy and sometimes even when you do not know that you are pregnant. 1

Start taking folic acid before pregnancy and it is also important to take it during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Recommended dose is 400 mcg daily to prevent birth defects.

Iron

It helps your body produce red blood cells and transport oxygen in your body. Storing enough iron before you conceive will allow you to have extra amounts of this element when you become pregnant. It prevents iron deficiency anemia later in the pregnancy. It also decreases risk of low birth weight, perinatal and maternal mortality. 2

So, focus on taking iron rich foods pre pregnancy. I write a detailed guide for women whose iron stay low despite taking iron rich foods and supplements and foods during pregnancy, you can read it to find nutrition tips to increase your iron levels easily and things to avoid when you’re iron deficient. You can check out this to restore your iron levels!

Vitamin D

Vitamin D ensures that your baby bones, teeth, kidneys, heart, and nervous system develops properly. It indirectly prevents pregnancy complications such as:

• Pre-eclampsia
• Low birthweight
• Gestational Diabetes

There is no still official evidence about taking extra vitamin D supplements pregnancy. But make sure to have the recommended dose of Vitamin D before planning of your pregnancy. I write a detailed guide on every vitamin rich food sources for skin that can also meet your daily intake needs. You can check out this now from here!

Iodine

This mineral ensures that your thyroid hormones are properly produced and promotes your metabolism as well as health and growth. Sources of this vitamin are seafood, dairy, eggs, and where appropriate, iodized salt. You should make sure you have enough iodine in your diet before pregnancy, because your body store iodine in the thyroid gland.

Then these stores are used to provide thyroid hormone and iodine to your developing baby, provide sufficient throughout the pregnancy. For preparation of pregnancy or normal woman, 150 mcg iodine per day is usually required, but increased to 200mcg/day during pregnancy. 3 Do not take seaweed supplements because they provide excess iodine. Consider diet and supplement as recommended doses.

2. Reach a Healthy Weight

Starting pregnancy at a healthy weight is a great way for you to have a healthier pregnancy. 4 It also helps you getting pregnant more easily and you improve more chances of having a healthy baby. And reduces risk of of health problems to you during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, while BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 is considered to be overweight. A BMI of 30.0 or greater means you’re being very overweight or obese. If you’re overweight or obese, losing even some pounds of weight will also be beneficial for you. Work for it.

Your body deserves compassion. Getting ready for pregnancy shouldn't be an extra reason to pick apart how you look at yourself. Healthy weight isn't about obsessing over numbers on a scale - it's all about fueling your overall wellness with sustainable habits that make sense for you!

Instead of: “I need to lose weight quick!”

Try: “I wanted to nourish my body and make me feel strong.”

Small everyday habits can have big impact! Focus on:

• Eating regular meals
• Staying active
• Sleeping well
• Managing stress
• Drinking enough water

No matter where you start on this journey these habits will help improve your health! I write a detailed guide for women weight loss journey that how they they can loss weight easily without eating less and without being hard on themselves. You can check out this!

3. Make Movement Part of Everyday Life

With modern living comes easy access to sitting – whether you're sitting at your desk for long periods, staring at your phone while relaxing at home, chilling on TV or driving somewhere else. In today's world, we often have to plan when and how we want to be physically active.

This means that the way our body was made is for us to move, making movement an extremely healthy habit we need to have before pregnancy for our physical and mental health. We could, for example, walk while having lunch breaks; go out more frequently; dance to the music that plays in our homes; or just do any other sport activities with our friends after work hours. Whatever makes you happy!

Every little bit does count! Whether it’s a brisk walk in the morning, taking the stairs instead of using the lift, stretching when sitting for longer periods, dancing around the house while preparing dinner, gardening, or even having a nice weekend bike ride – everything adds up!

If you are planning to conceive soon in the future, developing this routine today will be so much easier compared to making a drastic change in one day. So remember, no matter how many times we say ‘I want to exercise more’, the truth is that only the things we really love do we stick to.

So if possible, plan some activity which brings joy. Walk with a buddy, practice yoga or swim, work out at the gym, etc. Instead of thinking “how can i exercise more?” think about how can I move more? This small tweak in perspective makes all the differences in our lives. Because once again, everything we do now counts for a lifetime!

4. Sleep Like Your Future Health Depends On It

The hectic nature of today’s world makes it easy to put sleep low on the list of priorities when it comes to ensuring that we get sufficient sleep. Some of the actions which make people unable to have a good night’s sleep include sleeping late while browsing through their social media sites or watching movies.

When we're asleep, our bodies take care of many critical tasks ranging from tissue repair to immune system function, regulating hormones, and restoring energy levels needed during the day ahead. Adequate amounts of restful sleep help promote greater feelings of emotional balance and cognitive sharpness while allowing us space between waking moments where healthier decisions can occur naturally throughout each passing moment.

Establishing strong nightly routines including setting aside time specifically dedicated solely toward relaxing activities rather than using electronic devices right before heading off into dreamscape territory alongside, ensuring room remain sufficiently cool yet cozy necessary for deeper sleep cycles occurring regularly night after night will provide you long-term benefits.

If you have issues such as trouble falling asleep, frequent waking during the night, loud snoring, and/or ongoing fatigue in the daytime despite sufficient hours spent resting, it’s very important that we address this. Identifying and then working on solutions to our underlying issues around sleep should always form part of how we care about ourselves holistically.

Remember – sleep allows us a nightly “reset button” moment where we allow our bodies the space and opportunity to fully recover and re-charge so that we are ready to meet the day ahead. This works best alongside healthy eating patterns, exercise, stress reduction techniques and prevention healthcare practices as some of the strongest pillars.

5. Managing Stress

A little bit of stress goes hand in hand with our lives. But if you find that you’re experiencing stress on a daily basis, for example due to tight deadlines at work, taking care of family commitments or worrying about finances, it’s important to remember that being a woman means often having to ‘do it all’.

The good news is that there are things you can do to support yourself, especially around managing stress – as well as knowing that it’s impossible to eliminate all sources of stress from our lives.

Keep in mind that taking care of mental health is as important as taking care of physical. So what works? It's not necessary to wait for holidays to make huge changes in your life to start making small steps to achieving calmness in your life.

6. Checked Whether Your Vaccinations Are Up to Date

Nonetheless, several women do not recognize the importance of assessing their vaccination status in terms of preconception health. Some vaccines are more effective when they are given prior to conception than when given during pregnancy.
If you are thinking of getting pregnant, it would be wise to speak with your doctor about your immunization. Vaccines you should get:

• MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) Vaccine, you should first get confirmed with your doctor by pre-pregnancy blood test, to see if you are immune to disease, Because most women usually got vaccinated as children. 5
• COVID-19 Vaccination (If recommended)
• Varicella (Chickenpox Vaccine)
• Hepatitis B Vaccine, because hepatitis can be transmitted from mother to baby.
• Influenza (Flu) Vaccine, important to check if you receive seasonal flu commonly.

7. Be Careful Of Everyday Products You Use

Forming healthy habits before pregnancy is not only about food intake, physical activity, stress, and sleep. Your day-to-day decisions play an essential role in your body wellness.
The changes can be as simple as quitting smoking, cutting down on alcohol consumption, 6 following doctor’s prescriptions, reading labels, using household products properly, and minimizing stick to harmful chemicals.

Instead of attempting to make many changes simultaneously, target one change so that it can be implemented easily and steadily.

8. Don't Ignore Ongoing Health Conditions

In case you suffer from any of the following illnesses such as diabetes, thyroid disorder, hypertension, celiac disease, PCOS, liver, kidney disorder or any other chronic illness, it is best to consult with your doctor before getting pregnant.
Being able to control your illnesses and review any medicines you may be taking will enable you to get tailored advice.

9. Make Preventive Health Screenings a Priority

Health screenings help detect problems before they turn into bigger ones. This can be anything from blood pressure testing to cervical examination, blood tests, like CBC, Hb1AC, Thyroid Function Tests, Ferritin, LFT, RFT, Hepatitis B, C, HIV, Blood group and Rh Factor or other tests suggested by your healthcare practitioner, depending on your age and your own background.
Preventive healthcare is one of the easiest investments you can make in your health in the future.

10. Healthy Relationship As Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

Becoming healthy involves doing more than just eating the right foods and keeping physically fit. It also depends a great deal on the attitudes of those people with whom you interact. It is very advisable to stick to those individuals who promote your healthy lifestyle, support your purposes, and think about your health, with your partner. Having a good connection with him is a part of intimacy.

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