Preparing for pregnancy

How do you give yourself and your baby a magical pregnancy that will play an essential role in its life?

As a rule, most people tend to be terrified of genetic diseases, but the mother’s infections, blood sugar spikes, blood clotting, vitamin deficiency, and many other factors play a vital role both at the stage of the baby’s formation and for its future life.

Why does preparation for pregnancy begin 6 to 9 months before conceiving? This is due to female physiology. A high-quality egg takes months to mature. Yet, the fertilized egg had already been formed three months ago. That’s why it is crucial to give yourself enough time to prepare. During this time, you may change your lifestyle, replenish deficiencies, establish methylation pathways, support the thyroid gland, and diversify your microbiome.

Microbiome plays an important role both in forming a baby’s health for the rest of its life as well as in pregnancy itself. 80% of the microbiome of a newborn is formed during pregnancy. The fetus in the womb is not sterile, and viruses and bacteria pass through the placenta. Increased intestinal permeability, SIBO, IBS, liver, and bile dysfunction are factors that can lead to miscarriage. Vaginal dysbiosis is often associated with infertility.¹²

During pregnancy, insulin sensitivity decreases by 70%, and all hormones become counter-insular, including progesterone. As a result, an increase in blood sugar, or gestational diabetes, is first detected during pregnancy. Future harmful effects on children include the possibility of mental impairment, autism, and diabetes in adolescence and middle age. Therefore, it is essential to be aware of your glycemic index when getting ready for pregnancy. Throughout your pregnancy, a traditional glucometer or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) might be very beneficial. These devices are necessary during your entire pregnancy, even if you have never had problems with blood sugar before. Our metabolic response affects all further processes in a cell.³

When trying to get pregnant, the thyroid gland should be healthy. Even slight elevations in TSH can cause miscarriages and problems conceiving. The fetus is entirely dependent on the mother’s hormones until around 4-5 weeks because it has not developed its thyroid gland yet. There is an increased consumption of iodine during pregnancy. To become pregnant, the TSH level should not be higher than 2 mlU/L.⁴

Replenishment of deficits. It is known that pregnancy is not a disease, but it is a serious test for the body and mind. At the preparation stage, it is necessary to make up for deficiencies as much as possible to maintain a high level of nutrients during pregnancy. It is required to pass analysis for organic acids and amino acids to replenish appropriately. These two analyses will show your entire metabolism; moreover, there are also markers of bacterial and fungal infection. If you live in a humid climate, you will also need a mold test. These tests will tell you what condition your adrenal glands are in so that you have the strength to get pregnant. The state of the adrenal glands determines the quality of the mitochondria, whose energy you will use during pregnancy and pass on to your baby.⁵

To carry a baby, you need enough hormones. A woman’s cycle depends heavily on the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Often, early miscarriages are due to an insufficient amount of progesterone, yet your doctor will not send you to a specialist until three miscarriages have occurred. Isn’t it better to check the level of hormones at the preparation stage? Make a map of your cycle using urine tests that you can perform at home, look for any deviations, and get help as soon as possible.

The most crucial actions for a healthy pregnancy can be summed as follows:

• Healthy microbiome. Treat SIBR, SIGR, and intestinal permeability.
• Manage blood sugar levels by checking them right in the morning after you wake up, before meals, and two hours after meals. Do not allow sudden jumps in sugar.
• Check the levels of thyroid hormone. TSH, fT3, fT4, rT3, and TROab, thyroglobulin antibody.
• Organic acid test, Amino acid test
• A lab test of reproductive hormones and their metabolites
• Individual consultation with a specialist

1. Gut dysbiosis induces the development of pre-eclampsia through bacterial translocation – PubMed (2020, March 1st). https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2019-319101 ↩︎
2. Influence of maternal microbiota during pregnancy on infant immunity – PubMed. (2019, October 1st). https://doi.org/10.1111/cei.13331 ↩︎
3. Diabetes during Pregnancy: A Maternal Disease Complicating the Course of Pregnancy with Long-Term Deleterious Effects on the Offspring. A Clinical Review – PubMed (2021, March 15th). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22062965 ↩︎
4. Thyroid in pregnancy: From physiology to screening – PubMed (2017, March 1st). https://doi.org/10.1080/10408363.2016.1269309 ↩︎
5. Maternal inheritance of mitochondria: implications for male fertility? – PubMed (2018, April 1st). https://doi.org/10.1530/REP-17-0600 ↩︎