Pregnancy is one of the most important stages in a woman's life and, although it "just may occur", most women get prepared before conceiving. Pre-conception plans allows women to get the most of their pregnancy, starting from their diet, and increasing their chances of getting pregnant
Vitamin B12 and folic acid are important for the development of the baby, but the intake of these nutrients should start as soon as your seeking to get pregnant, along with other essential vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy pregnancy.
The Department of Health recommends all women planning to have a baby, a dietary supplement containing at least 400 micrograms of folic acid before conception and until the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. Folic acid helps to prevent neural tube defects, and it is very important for cell division, making a single cell become a fully developed baby.
Folic acid is also known as Folate, naturally occurring in B vitamin, and found in strawberry's and almost all leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, spinach, as well as citrus, including orange juice, and enriched grains, lentils, black beans, peanuts, fortified breakfast cereals, and enriched breads and pasta.
Because its role in the manufacturing of DNA and red blood cells, you need to make sure of getting enough folic acid on a daily basis before conceiving and later. Research shows that women who are getting 0.4 milligrams (400 micrograms) in their daily diets, reduce this risk of birth defects on their babies by up to 70%, and increases their conception chances over this percentage.
Timing conception is also another important part of the preparation before conceiving. Until you learn and understand how your menstrual cycle works, when ovulation occurs, and which days are considered your fertile time, your odds of getting pregnant will not improve.
Even then, once you have found when your fertile time occurs, you need to talk with your partner. Your egg will only live for 12 to 24 hours, a very narrow window for pregnancy to occur. Time intercourse during that time to make sure that your partners sperm will be present when the egg is released from the ovary, the moment when the opportunity to get pregnant occurs.
Additional advice can be obtained directly from a pre-natal visit to your doctor. He will review any risk assessment, genetic concerns, risk of hepatitis B, present and past immunizations, and laboratory testing, besides giving you additional information to improve your diet, understand your cycle, fertile time and timing intercourse along with other pre-natal information.
