Prepare your health before pregnancy

Pregnancy is a difficult process for the mother that not everyone understands. So before planning to get pregnant, both husband and wife need to prepare health, finance, and psychology to ensure the best for the birth of the child.

For the husband

To have a healthy fetus, the husband needs to eat nutritious and safe foods to help his body and sperm stay healthy, such as eating foods rich in folic acid, zinc, vitamin C, cereals, dark green leafy vegetables, seafood, eggs, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, grapes... and limit tobacco, alcohol, and stimulants.

Avoid wearing tight clothing, sitting for too long, and soaking in saunas.

If the working environment has contact with toxic substances such as chemicals, pesticides, radioactive substances... then you should change jobs or take measures to minimize environmental risks.

Comfortable working conditions, reasonable rest time to avoid stress and fatigue.

Couples should learn together about how to take care of their health during pregnancy.

For the wife

Prepare a healthy body, control your weight because an average weight will help you conceive more easily, do not be too obese. You should have your teeth checked, if you have not done so in the past 6 months. Have a health check to rule out immunity to rubella, chicken pox, gynecological diseases, flu vaccination, rubella... You should spend about 30 minutes exercising every day. You should give up alcohol, coffee, and cigarettes. Coffee can reduce fertility, increase the risk of nerve stimulation, and easily lead to miscarriage, you should only use about 200 mg per day.

Mothers also need to minimize risks from the working and living environment.

Avoid contact with toxic substances such as chemicals, radioactive substances, substances in the living environment such as detergents, solvents, lead in drinking water...

Before pregnancy, mothers need to supplement the following nutrients:

Folic acid supplementation:Folic acid deficiency during pregnancy can cause neural tube defects in children (spina bifida, hydrocephalus, premature birth, cleft palate...). Supplementing folic acid 3 months before pregnancy as directed by your doctor will reduce the risk of neural tube defects by 93%.

Vitamin enhancement: Vitamins play a very important role in ensuring a safe and healthy pregnancy. Vitamin A is abundant in carrots, tomatoes, fish liver, pumpkin... helping to strengthen the mother's immune system, protect the fetus and especially nourish the child to have bright and healthy eyes. Vitamin C is a nutrient abundant in fresh fruits and green vegetables that helps to increase resistance, prevent disease and absorb iron better.

Calcium Supplement:Calcium is an essential nutrient in protecting the mother's skeletal health and forming bones and teeth of the baby. Therefore, before pregnancy, you should supplement enough calcium to ensure a stronger, healthier skeletal system in preparation for the upcoming pregnancy because if the mother's body lacks calcium, the fetus will be underdeveloped, stunted, and malnourished.

Iron supplements:Iron is the main component that produces blood cells, anemia due to iron deficiency will affect the health of mother and fetus. During pregnancy, anemia limits the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus, easily leading to suffocation and stillbirth. Therefore, supplement iron from the stages before pregnancy to prevent anemia due to iron deficiency. Iron is abundant in foods such as spinach, water spinach, sea fish, lean meat...

Protein Boost:Protein is an important nutrient that contributes to improving the health of women preparing to become pregnant, creating a good foundation for the formation and development of the fetus. Protein is also an extremely necessary catalyst for the conception process to take place more easily, more smoothly, and more effectively. Protein is abundant in meat, fish, eggs, milk, etc.

According to SK&DS