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Prakash Chandran (Host):  If you’re trying to have a baby or just thinking about it. it’s not too early to start getting ready for pregnancy. And there’s some important things you can do before you head down the road to conception. We’re going to learn about it today with Carol McNutt, a Certified Nurse Midwife and Practitioner at Capital Regional Women’s Health.

This is Helmet of Health, the podcast from Capital Regional Women’s Health. I’m Prakash Chandran. So, Carol what exactly does it mean for one to prepare themselves to get pregnant?

Carol McNutt, CNM (Guest):  Well my advice to women is to be the best you can be and that starts out with being healthy from the get go. And for women who are thinking about getting pregnant, being on folic acid supplements is really important. It’s over-the-counter, you can find it in the vitamin section and its 400 to 800 micrograms a day. And that’s been proven to help prevent birth defects. Folic acid also comes in fruits, green leafy vegetables and grains are also good sources in our diet.

The other things to consider are certainly any other medical conditions particularly if a woman is overweight, she should try and lose weight prior to getting pregnant. Smokers should try and quit but certainly to cut down the amount of cigarettes that they are smoking. And certainly, to avoid any street drugs or alcohol use during the time they are trying to conceive. For women who are on regular medication, it is important that they check with their provider about what medications are safe in pregnancy and what are alternatives that can be used in pregnancy. The worst thing to do is to quit a medication cold turkey without talking to a provider.

Some other things are to be current with vaccinations prior to getting pregnant and also good dental care, taking care of your teeth, regular cleaning and any procedures prior to pregnancy. And one of the other things that I think is really important is in the family relationship, is the partner on board with getting pregnant and if the relationship is strained or unstable, pregnancy and a new baby certainly can add a lot of added stress to the pregnancy. Having a baby is not going to save a troubled marriage and certainly seeking counseling and working on the relationship prior to pregnancy can make it a much happier relationship when particularly both partners are on board with the pregnancy.

Host:  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I feel like you’ve covered things in two separate sections. One is the emotional state that a woman is in especially given the relationship with their partner. Is that partner ready to have a baby. Because there’s so much that comes along with it. And then the second component is the physical state and like you said, cutting down on smoking, if you are overweight trying to maybe put yourself in a little bit of a diet just to make sure that your body is prepared to give birth and then the folic acid treatment that you mentioned. All really good things. one other thing that I wanted to touch on was sometimes I hear about certain pre-pregnancy issues or conditions that women should be aware of. So, this is outside of the things that they should be doing to prepare themselves but are there certain disorders that they need to get treated ahead of time prior to trying to conceive?

Carol:  I think for any chronic medical condition that they really discuss this with their medical provider in terms of safety getting pregnant as well as medications, modifying medications. I think that really has to be addressed on an individual basis.

Host:  I see. and I’ve always heard of a pregnancy or pre-pregnancy plan before, just something to help a woman prepare in the months leading up to trying to conceive. Can you speak to this a little bit?

Carol:  I think it’s important that women meet with their OB gynecologist for having a PAP smear, checking for sexually transmitted infections, just an overall kind of womanly tune up and also in terms of are they on anything for birth control; how do they come off of that as well as fertility awareness, when are they most fertile and likely to conceive and have an increased awareness and understanding on how that works, doing that a few months prior to attempting to conceive.

Host:  I want to focus a little bit more on the partners because I actually have a new six month old and I lover her to death. She’s super adorable. And I remember prior, when my wife and I decided that we wanted to start trying, I really tried to focus on making sure that she as stress free, that we were clear about what our expectations were for having the baby. A lot of the things that you’re mentioning. I don’t think that a lot of people have that insight. I had that because I had a lot of friends that were trying for years and they had given me a lot of advice prior. But is there anything else that you would recommend for a partner to be aware of while a woman is trying to conceive?

Carol:  Wow, I think to learn as much as possible in terms of about pregnancy and what the woman is going through as far as her body and all the changes and certainly whatever pregnancy or parenting classes to prepare for life with a new baby. They don’t sleep when we sleep, and I think sleep deprivation is certainly a big issue for both parents.

Host:  I can confirm.

Carol:  Right. And certainly enlisting the help of family and friends in terms of providing support and I think also financial planning in terms of if the woman is going to be out of work for an extended period of time that they’ve budgeted for that. That the new baby comes and not under financial stress that having a cushion to rely on and trying to – you can’t prepare for everything but certainly like I said, the sleep deprivation, just the amount of time that a baby takes. And being realistic about expectations. A lot of people assume the baby is going to fit into their lifestyle and it’s usually the other way around. The baby turns everybody’s world kind of upside down. Usually in a good way.

Host:  Yeah, absolutely. Just to kind of wrap up here, I totally resonant with everything that you’re saying. Like you said, there’s the emotional aspect of it, making sure your partner is on board and you’ve talked about everything that goes into having a baby including the financial aspect. Talking about the physical aspect. Taking care of yourself, making sure that your body is in a good place to conceive and taking those supplements like the folic acid that you mentioned. And then finally, just being as prepared as possible, like you can’t really prepare for everything but being forward thinking about some of the things that will change like that lack of sleep you are going to get and for me personally, it was a lot around my wife moving from a fulltime job to staying at home with a kid and everyone has a different situation. Some parents use childcare but no matter what, there’s a large change that happens and a big emotional change. Because there’s those perinatal mood and anxiety disorders that basically amplify everything for a woman as they’re going through this massive change.

So, as a partner, I can say that it’s important to be really supportive. Isn’t that something that you would agree with?

Carol:  Oh, I couldn’t agree more. We joke, we say it takes a village and it does. That this is something a family goes through together and it’s great to have help and support.

Host:  All right Carol. Well I think that’s a perfect place to end. I truly appreciate your time. That’s Carol McNutt, a Certified Nurse Midwife and Practitioner at Capital Regional Women’s Health. Thanks for checking out this episode of Helmet of Health. Visit www.capitalregionalwh.com to get connected with a provider. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks and we’ll talk next time.