Pre-conception preparation involves improving the health of prospective Mum AND Dad to their optimum level and helping their body to produce the best quality eggs and sperm possible. It’s important that you’re both in good health and not stressed out, battling colds or dealing with digestive problems for at least four months prior to conception, no matter whether you are conceiving naturally or with the assistance of IVF treatment.
Many people don’t realise it takes approximately four months for your body to mature one egg or make one sperm. This means it will take at least this time for the changes you make to completely take effect.
The three main factors that affect healthy conception are the state of your health, the quality of your diet, and the type lifestyle you lead. Your body is a delicate eco-system. It’s like a garden of possibility and just as you would prepare the earth before planting seeds, you must also prepare your body, mind and spirit before conception. This will ensure healthy eggs and sperm, a stress-free mind, a regular menstrual cycle and a healthy body – all important elements for conception.
Preparing well means a more trouble-free pregnancy and birth and a healthier baby. There are many lifestyle and diet issues to address that many couples may not realise the importance of. Some of these include: D.I.Y. home renovations, tight underwear, laptop computers, alcohol and coffee drinking, not enough water etc. Ask us how these may be affecting your chances of conception. A study completed in 1992 found that pre-conception care greatly decreased the incidence of miscarriage, perinatal death and malformations as well as reducing the risk of premature labour, low birth weight and pre-eclampsia.
It should be noted that if you’ve had trouble conceiving for some time, then you can expect treatment to last anywhere from six months to eighteen months. These figures depend on your ages and your health, diet and lifestyle. This doesn’t mean it won’t happen in less than this time because it sometimes can, however in the majority of cases, it will take longer to re-balance your body, hormones, build up blood if we need to, improve egg quality, de-stress, improve sperm count and quality and make all the necessary lifestyle and diet changes.
Our practitioners keep up with the latest evidence and research, and share some gems with you through our red tent newsletter.
Check out a Nine news report on Acupuncture helping women to conceive (22 April 2011)