Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy

This article is a summary of a webinar with Dr. Rebecca on the topic of infertility. Watch the full video on Youtube here. 

The ability to bring life into the world is a wonderful miracle to be celebrated and enjoyed. Our bodies go through immense changes before, during, and after pregnancy, and a healthy body should be able to partake in this miracle with ease and joy. 

We tend to focus on the health of babies, disregarding our own health, so I want to underscore how important it is for us to pay attention to our own health in order to achieve a healthy pregnancy for our babies. The saying rings true, you can’t pour from an empty cup. 

Fertility comes second to your own health. When you feel good inside your body, conception and carrying your baby to term becomes easier and much more natural. Here are some ways you can start to improve your lifestyle to prepare for a healthy pregnancy. 

Your Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign

There’s a lot of information within your menstrual cycle. Understanding your cycle day-by-day can reveal any issues going on inside your body so you can heal anything that needs to be addressed. 

One of the most common and most important imbalance is progesterone levels. Red flags that you are missing the balance of this vital hormones include: if you’re feeling emotional before your period or have symptoms that are usually written off as PMS, spotting before your period, headaches or migraines before your period. This can mean that you don’t have enough progesterone hormone in your body, and low progesterone will affect your ability to become pregnant. 

This is also why properly ovulating is important, not just to feel good but to support fertility. 

I discuss this in much more detail here, at around the 36-minute mark. 

Test your progesterone levels at the right time in your menstrual cycle. Women are being told that miscarriages are normal, but they don't have to be, and testing will confirm if the above symptoms are a result of low progesterone.    

What to Test for to Determine Your Current Supplement Needs

When preparing for pregnancy, there are labs I recommend women have done to see where they are and what needs to be changed. I have compiled this as the Basic Wellness Panel, which you can order for yourself here. Watch more of me talking about this panel at the 60 minute mark. This panel includes:

• CBC With Differential/Platelet
• Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
• Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy
• TSH
• Triiodothyronine,Free,Serum
• Thyroxine (T4) Free, Direct, S
• Reverse T3, Serum
• Thyroglobulin Ab
• Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab
• Homocyst(e)ine
• Ferritin, Serum
• Hemoglobin A1c
• Insulin
• Iron and TIBC
• Lipid Panel
• Vitamin B12

From here, we can put together a game plan for what supplements and dosages to take to correct deficiencies in your labs and best prepare for pregnancy. 

These are my standard supplements that I love to use to prepare and support for a healthy pregnancy! Go through my video to understand WHY each of these supplements are important each of these are for you and your baby's health.   

• Baby and Me 2 by MegaFood
• Vitamin D paired with Vitamin K, such as DV3 by Systemic Formulas or Vitamin D Supreme by Designs for Health
• NAC 1000mg by Protocol for Life Balance
• Mors by Systemic Formulas
  
• PureForm Omegas
• Megasporebiotic by Microbiome Labs

When ordering for the first time from Revelation Health, use code DRSWARREN at checkout to save 10%!

The Best Diet for Pregnancy

I operate from the philosophy that food is not medicine. That may be a popular saying, but the fact is that food isn’t the thing that’s healing, that’s your body’s job. 

Your body is powerful, but it does need the right type of fuel to perform optimally, so nourishing it with the healthiest available foods is important, especially when trying to conceive.

Your baby will pull the nutrients from your body whether you have optimal levels available or not, and you don’t want to leave yourself deprived. An under-nourished host won’t offer the best health to baby. 

Ideally, you want to start nourishing your body with good nutrition and supplementation at least three months before you start trying to conceive. 

The best diet for pregnancy is really simple: clean air, clean water, clean food, and a healthy nervous system.

Focus on eating clean, whole foods, lots of healthy fats, avoid processed foods, filter your water, and avoid plastic and you’re off to a great start. Begin watching at the 20:25 mark to go deeper on nutrition for pregnancy. Also check out my favorite pregnancy books and products on my Amazon store here.