Thinking of conceiving for the first time? Or perhaps adding another bundle of joy to your existing family? Whatever your situation, there are steps you can take with nutrition, herbs and lifestyle that can help provide a great environment for the new baby to grow in, and that can go on to help the mum-to-be feel strong too during the whole experience.

Ideally the following suggestions would be carried out before getting pregnant by both the man and woman, during the preconception stage, to improve female egg and male sperm quality as both are important to ensuring a healthy pregnancy.

Nutrition

Malnutrition is actually a major public health issue in the UK, and according to the British Dietetic Association, affects 3 million people here. A person does not just have to be extremely thin to be malnourished, as even people who are considered a healthy weight can be, as can people who are overweight.

So, it is important to make sure you and your partner are eating a well-balanced diet before conceiving because the body requires a strong basic foundation of nutrients be in place before allowing a pregnancy to even occur.

Some of the things to include in the nutritional aspect of fertility preparation:

• Remove processed grains and food from the diet including refined sugar.
• Eat enough protein on a daily basis from healthy animal and plant based sources. Consuming enough protein can even help reduce the chances of developing any complications during pregnancy when it happens.
• Drink plenty of water to help fertility and carry this habit on during pregnancy and when breast-feeding.
• Consume nutrient-dense carbohydrates (such as vegetables, some fruit and starch sources such as sweet potato and butternut squash) and healthy fats (such as coconut oil, coconuts, olive oil, olives, butter, grass-fed meats, eggs and nuts.
• A good quality pre-natal multivitamin and mineral supplement that contains folate as opposed to folic acid (which is man made) and a good quality omega 3 are usual recommendations for ensuring any nutritional gaps in the diet are addressed.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle factors and habits can have a huge impact on whether you have a healthy pregnancy or not. Good quality sleep, quitting smoking and drinking and addressing drug use are just some of the most important. Other lifestyle factors to look at include:

• Exposure to harmful chemicals: ensure you become familiar with what they are and reduce your exposure as much as possible.
• High stress levels: this one is not always easy but try to limit your exposure to stress as well as learning new skills (like mindful meditation) to help cope when stress hits.
• Exercise: both too little and too much can have negative consequences to health as both are stressful to the body. Ensure to do something you enjoy if you need to do more and ensure you do not over do your weekly workouts if you think you might be adding stress to your body here.

Herbs

Herbs can also pack a powerful punch when it comes to being used alongside a healthy diet and lifestyle. All of the following herbs have been found to be beneficial for helping to fall pregnant naturally:

• Red raspberry leaf
• Nettle leaf
• Dandelion
• Alfalfa
• Maca
• Chaste tree berry