04/22/2025
Have you ever heard this quote? Often used by farmers, but it applies to the body well. If you have have poor soil, you have poor growth of your plants because it lacks the nutrients to supply and sustain life to grow optimal fruits.
The body is the same! If your body is lacking nutrients, it may be difficult to conceive or even trigger less optimal genetics. So how can we tend to our soil before considering pregnancy?
Nutrition, physical exercise, sleep, mental health are all pieces of the puzzle to health. They all act to improve our soil and they all influence each other. And no, this is not just a consideration for the birthing parent, it’s a consideration for everyone contributing genetic material to your pregnancy.
The best way to tackle this is to start about 1 year prior to the time you’d want to conceive. Your body requires this amount of time to replenish and nourish nutrients, begin working on mental health, optimize your physical body, and decrease inflammation.
Action steps:
1- Get a medical physical and pay attention to your bloodwork. This like vitamin D should not be bare minimum; they should be at least middle of the road (for vitamin D, think levels of 50-60 not 20).
2- Start prenatal vitamins, and men start a good multivitamin - check my profile links. Folic acid, vitamin D, omega 3 fatty acids and iron are some big ones to focus on.
3- Consider checking in with a mental health therapist. The transition to parenting is a huge life event. Is there anything from your childhood you’d like to process or things you don’t want to repeat? Do you have a history or trauma? Things buried inside you are not unseen to your body.
4- Exercise! Even just walking 30 minutes 5x per week is a great start.
5- Get adjusted regularly! Every 2-4 weeks depending on your lifestyle/job is sufficient for wellness. We want you to be able to move well, exercise without injury, and have optimal nervous system function. We call this pre-conception care.
