| What
is Preconception Health Care?
You can make a difference to the physical emotional and mental health
of your baby. The long-term health of this new and unique person as
he or she grows from a tiny fertilized egg to a fully grown adult
human depends on a constant supply of nutrients to provide the basic
building blocks essential for growth and development.
These same nutrients also improve fertility in the adult woman, help
conception to occur, help to prevent miscarriage and create the environment
for a healthy full-term pregnancy and an easy trouble-free birth and
breastfeeding experience.
Why Use Preconception Health ?
For
the best health of a new baby, good nutritional supplements begins
prior to conception. This is because the mother’s egg takes approximately
100 days to mature before ovulation and the father’s sperm need about
116 days to form. During this time, both are very susceptible to damage.
A period of 4 months for preconception health care enables sperms
and egg to develop in a toxin-free and nutrient-rich environment to
enable optimum health of both. This provides the best possible conditions
for the long-term health of the baby. It takes two very healthy parents
to make a healthy baby and preconception care for both parents is
the ideal way to achieve this.
But
I Eat a Healthy Diet, Why Should I Take Supplements?
While
a good diet is a sensible starting point for good nutrition, unfortunately
on its own it is not enough to guarantee optimal nutritional status.
Hong Kong soil is low in many nutrients and traditional farming has
further depleted the soil of minerals such as calcium, magnesium,
zinc and iron. Pesticides use increases the need for many nutrients,
for example, vitamin C. Milling and refining goods such as rice and
wheat flour, to make them more palatable, also removes many vitamins
and minerals, further destroying nutrient content. For example, zinc
is important in over 300 enzyme reactions in the body, and especially
for male and female reproductive health. However, zinc is easily lost
during refining of grains and is poorly absorbed by many people. At
least 67% of men and 85% of women are deficient in zinc! Many nutrient
losses occur in processing and storage of good, so our fruit and vegetables
are not farm fresh or full of the goodness we usually associate with
fresh foods. We are also constantly exposed to toxins, such as chemicals,
heavy metals and radiation which use up our antioxidant store, and
reduce nutrients. These toxic substance, which can harm sperm, eggs
and the developing baby, can be gently removed from the body, during
the preconception period, through the use of antioxidant nutrients
and cleansing herbs.
How Do Supplements Improve My Fertility?
Fertility
in both prospective parents can be greatly impaired by the effects
of various toxins, such as chemicals, heavy metals, and radiation,
which can adversely affect the health of eggs and sperm. Good nutrition,
especially with antioxidants and herbal remedies, can help to detoxify
the body. Other nutrients are required for proper reproductive function,
hormonal balance and healthy eggs and sperm.
How
Do Supplements Benefit My Baby?
During
the first three months after conception, the mass of the embryo increases
over 20 million times. This is the time when cells differentiate and
organs are being formed. Sometimes nutrient deficiencies may be so
great that the pregnancy cannot continue. In other cases, the deficiency
is not so severe but may still be detrimental to the health of the
unborn child. For example, this is the case in spinal bifida, where
levels of folic acid are insufficient of satisfactory closure of the
neural tube and the spine covering does not fully develop.
Other,
less obvious problems, such as allergies, asthma, behavior problems
and infections (for example, middle ear and respiratory infection)
are far likely to occur in children when parents enter into conception
with adequate nutrient status and low toxity levels.
Your
growing baby is rapidly developing new organs and body tissues, and
needs lots of good nutrition to complete this growth and development
in optimum health and vitality. The food you eat and the supplements
you take before and during pregnancy act as a supply of nutrition
of these developing organs and tissues.
How
do I choose a good supplement?
The
Natural Way to Better Babies is a helpful book based on the research
of Sydney-based naturopath and herbalist, Francesca Naish, who has
extensively studied the preconception nutritional and environmental
requirements for a healthy pregnancy outcome. For the past 20 years
Francesca and her associates have worked with thousands of couples
to help them prepare for pregnancy and overcome infertility and other
reproductive problems. Many of these couples now have beautiful, bright
and healthy children as a result of following Francesca’s comprehensive
preconception and pregnancy programs.
Choose a range of preconception health care products especially developed
to meet the nutritional needs of both mother and father prior to conception
and of the mother and baby during pregnancy. These supplements should
provide the correct balance and dosage of nutrients essential for
the best possible health of both parents to ensure optimum health
of sperm and egg at the time of conception. They can also be used
during pregnancy to supply nutrients to mother and child at therapeutic
levels which have been shown to be beneficial. Physiologically balanced
formulations are available. These contain all essential nutrients
to ensure adequate absorption, assimilation and utilization and avoid
high levels of one nutrient at the expense of another. They also provide
nutrient and herbal remedies to aid gentle detoxification from harmful
chemicals and heavy metals.
Seek the advice of your health care practitioner to choose preconception
health care products that have been designed as a complete program,
providing essential nutrition in the correct balance.
Do
supplements interfere with IVF or GIFT?
For
couples undergoing assisted reproduction, vitamins, minerals and essential
fatty acids can be used safely with your program.
For information regarding supplements for use as part of a preconception
health care plan, contact your health care practitioner, or read:
• The Natural Way to Better Babies—Preconception Health Care
for Prospective Parents, Francesca Naish & Janette Roberts, Random
House, Australia, 1996
• The Natural Way to a Better Pregnancy, Francesca Naish & Janette
Roberts, Doubleday, Australia 1999
• The Natural Way to Better Birth and Bonding, Francesca Naish &
Janette Roberts, Doubleday, Australia, 2000
• Natural Fertility, Francesca Naish, Sally Milner Publishing, Australia,
1991
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