PRE PREGNANCY ADVICE
Planning your pregnancy:
To give your baby the best start in life there are some things you should consider before you become pregnant.
- Smoking: You should stop smoking completely. Women who smoke are more likely to have a miscarriage. Also, each time you smoke a cigarette, it restricts your baby's oxygen supply. This will make your baby grow less well.
- Alcohol: Try to cut down your alcohol intake before you get pregnant. Current guide-lines suggest women should drink less than 21 units of alcohol per week (one unit is half a pint of beer or cider, one glass of wine or one measure of spirits). You should cut down to much less than this when you are trying to become pregnant, and should ideally stop drinking alcohol altogether once you are pregnant.
- Medicines: If you are taking any medicines regularly (including any that you buy in the pharmacy or health food shop), ask your doctor if it is safe to continue them while you are pregnant.
- Immunisations: You doctor will check that you are protected against Rubella (German measles). You should have had an injection when you were at school, but sometimes this wears off. If you have been pregnant before, you will have been tested to see whether you were protected, and if you were not, you will have been vaccinated after you had your baby.
- Diet: It is important to eat a healthy diet and eat regularly. You should keep your weight steady and try not to lose or gain large amounts of weight, as this may make it harder for you to become pregnant. Avoid drinking too much caffeine (e.g. cola drinks, tea, coffee) as this can also reduce your chances of pregnancy.
- Folic Acid: acid Women who take extra folic acid before becoming pregnant are less likely to have a baby suffering from spina bifida (a condition where the baby's lower back and spine does not develop properly). You need about 400 micrograms of folic acid per day. Foods such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts, liver, yeast and peanuts contain folic acid. However, it may be difficult to get enough folic acid from the diet, so you can buy supplements from the chemist. Take them every day when you are trying to conceive, and continue them until you are 12 weeks pregnant.
- X-rays: You should avoid having any X-rays while you are pregnant. This includes the two weeks before your period each month while you are trying to get pregnant. Ultrasound scans are safe in pregnancy.
- Stopping contraception: If you have been using sheaths or a cap to prevent pregnancy, then you simply stop using them. If you have been using a contraceptive implant (Norplant) then you need to ask your doctor to remove it.
If you have had a contraceptive injection, you will need to wait until this wears off. Although this takes about 12 weeks, some women find that it takes longer for their periods to return. You should use sheaths and wait for your first normal period before trying to get pregnant.
If you have been on the Pill, then you can stop it at the end of your current pack. You will menstruate at your usual time. Some women find that there is a delay before normal periods return after they stop the Pill. It is therefore best to wait until you have had your first normal period off the Pill before trying to get pregnant.
Whichever method of contraception you were using, keep a note of the date of each of your periods.
Getting pregnant
Most women will become pregnant within 1-2 years of stopping contraception. You will be more likely to conceive at certain times of each month. This is the time to make love with your partner for the best chance of getting pregnant. In most women, the normal time interval between the start of one period and the start of the next is 28 days. If you have periods every 28 days, the time you are most likely to get pregnant is around day 14, i.e. the middle of each cycle.
Testing for pregnancy
If you think you are pregnant, see your doctor who can arrange for you to have a pregnancy test. This should be positive when your period is about two weeks late.
Alternatively, you can buy pregnancy tests in your pharmacy. As these tests use more sensitive chemicals, they will usually be positive on the day when your period was due.
How to prepare for pregnancy
- See your doctor about any ongoing health problems.
- Avoid taking any medicines ask your doctor about long-term treatments.
- Stop smoking.
- Reduce your alcohol consumption.
- Check that you are protected against Rubella.
- Take a total of 400 micrograms of folic acid daily from your diet and supplements.