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Pregnancy: planning a healthy pregnancy
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
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If you are planning a pregnancy, take care of your health in advance. If you have previously used birth control pills, wait until your menstrual cycle becomes regular.
Fertility may not return immediately after stopping contraception.
Now more than ever, it is important to exercise, eat a balanced, healthy diet, drink plenty of water, and reduce or eliminate caffeine. Avoid drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. Also, eliminate nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or aspirin from your medicine cabinet.
If you have not yet chosen a doctor who will guide you during pregnancy, childbirth and after, use the advice of friends or get the necessary information at the clinic.
Talk to your doctor again about any vaccinations you've had in the past. Birth defects, miscarriages, or stillbirths can be caused by infections like rubella or measles, so you should get the necessary vaccinations and wait a certain amount of time before you become pregnant.
Talk to your doctor about screening tests for family diseases (genetic disorders). These tests are taken if one of the parents-to-be has a family disease or other disorder in people of your race or ethnic group. Screening for genetic disorders is done to detect:
- sickle cell disease, which is common in Africans;
- early infantile amaurotic idiocy, a disease seen in Ashkenazi Jews (descendants of Jews of German descent), Cajuns, or French Canadians;
- fibrocystic degeneration - a disease that is often observed in people of Caucasian or European descent, as well as in Ashkenazi Jews (descendants of Jews who originated from Germany).
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