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What? A baby? Not now! This might have been your reaction every time you and your partner got into this discussion. Circumstances like work priorities, financial issues, or even health problems might make you put that question in the back burner. But, you too know that eventually, you’d want to start your family someday. While choosing when to have a baby might completely be your prerogative, it makes sense to prepare your body for it early on. By making subtle yet healthy changes to your lifestyle and diet, you can ensure that you’ll be fit and raring to go whenever that happens. Not only that, but you can also ensure your baby is born healthy too. Here’s how you can do it:
1. Up Your Vitamin Intake
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Vitamins are very essential for a healthy body and mind. But a fast-paced life hardly leaves you with enough time to have a balanced meal each day. That is why it is imperative to take vitamin supplements, especially folic acid. Folic acid is known to protect you from potential miscarriages, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and preterm birth. Your doctor might recommend 400 mcg to 1 mg daily intake. Also, try to include fish oil tablets in your diet along with folic acid, and it’ll turn out to be one healthy combination.
2. Avoid Mercury Fish
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Fishes are healthy for you as they are loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids. This is necessary for the overall development of the child. However, some of them contain high amounts of mercury and could do more harm to you than benefit. In fact, some of them can prove to be fatal if taken regularly. So, next time you feel like eating fish, check the level of mercury in it (1).
3. Have A Contamination-Free Diet
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Those constant refrains from your mother or grandmother of how everything these days is contaminated might have a grain of truth to them. A lot of vegetables and fruits nowadays are exposed to harsh pesticides, which gets into your body system every time you consume them. And these might prove to be quite dangerous in the long run. The best way to beat this is to go organic as much as you can.
4. Maintain A Healthy Weight
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It is common knowledge that obesity can become a serious health issue with time. Combine this with the fact that a few pounds of weight gain is inevitable during pregnancy and you’ll have a perfect recipe for a childbirth complication. It is always a great idea to maintain an ideal body weight, not only for the sake of your future baby but for your general well-being. But this does not mean that you have to starve yourself to achieve that dreaded size zero. Just ensuring that your BMI is within the limits should be fine.
5. Avoid Stress
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Stress is the number one enemy that wreaks havoc on your health – be it family issues, work commitments, or personal emotional problems. Stress messes up your hormones which in turn might affect your fertility. While eliminating stress altogether might not be completely possible, you can always try ways and means of reducing it. Practicing yoga, deep breathing, meditation, etc., can help you overcome stress to a large extent. For more serious issues, seek out psychological counseling. A counselor can help you place your finger on the exact reason for your stress and suggest remedial measures.
6. Go For Toxin-Free Makeup
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We are generally aware of food and liquid contamination, but what about other sources? One such source is the chemicals present in a woman’s makeup that she wears for most parts of the day. It is believed that cosmetics contain toxins like lead which are believed to be present even in eyeliners and lipsticks! Avoid cosmetics if you can. If it is necessary, then choose organic brands with ‘clinically proven’ results instead of ‘dermatologically tested’. It simply means that the product has undergone dermatological tests, but does not mention the results.
Whenever you wish to plan your family, we are sure you’d be well-prepared for it. At that time, we hope that this precious little information comes in handy for you. For any concerns, make sure to consult your doctor. Live healthily and have a healthy baby! Good luck!
