Preconception Health

Planning for pregnancy is an exciting time to be followed by an even more exciting time with the birth of a healthy child after a healthy and complication free pregnancy. But the road to a healthy pregnancy and child starts long before the time of conception. A series of three papers (1, 2, 3) published in The Lancet this week highlights the importance of ‘the parents to be’ health pre conception; months before conception.

There has been a strong link made thru observations between health of the parents, specially the mother, and child health outcomes as well as the maternal health outcomes! “Most people are aware of prenatal and antenatal care, and their importance,” lead author of one of the articles, Judith Stephenson, MBBS, from University College London, UK, “but we’re saying you need to shift the focus further back in time. There’s now a lot of compelling evidence, both from animal and human studies, that the nutritional status and health of the mother and father before conception has an important influence on the way the embryo develops, and that will then affect the infant and child health,” she noted.

Pre conception health behaviors and nutritional status of the parents is a determinant of fertility and future health of the child.   Behaviors such as smoking or drinking needs to be stopped or at least cut back on significantly.   If a person has obesity, pre conception is a great time to make the strides necessary for loosing the extra weight as obesity hinders the miracle that is fertility and pregnancy.

Micronutrients are deficient in many common western diets and needs to be supplemented somehow. Some studies have shown that micronutrient supplementation started in pregnancy can correct the mother’s nutritional deficiencies but not always make a difference in terms of the health of the baby. This is most likely due to the fact that the embryo develops at a different rate during the gestation, and organs grow most optimally during different trimesters.   Different nutrients are essential during different trimesters and developmental stages. Changes in embryo development can affect the child’s lifetime risk of cardiometabolic disease (hypertension, obesity, and type 2 diabetes), allergies, cancer, and neurologic impairment.

In one study, they found that 77% of women of childbearing age had an iodine deficiency! Iodine deficiency can lead to infertility issues as the thyroid plays a huge part in maintaining pregnancies. The same study sbowed that 96% of women of childbearing age were deficient in folate and iron! 49% of the women were either overweight or obese (A British Study using the British population).

The idea is to have both parents in optimal health long before conception occurs, with a full nutritional status that is optimal for babies in womb and adolescent health!

This leads right into acupuncture and how it can be so successful with fertility issues: At Summit Healing Arts, we use acupuncture and herbal formulas to bring balance to the body, and this balance leads to an overall better health.   When the nutritional status of the parents are correct, when behavioral patterns are not detrimental to the developing embryo thru smoking or alcoholic consumption, pregnancy will occur in all likelihood. Acupuncture has also proven to be the most effective approach for pregnancy, with or without other fertility measure.

If you are interested in being treated Summit Healing Arts, call and set up a consult to see what we can do for you.