6 Ways to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy

Planning to get pregnant can be an anxiety-laden experience for many women. There are seemingly many hoops to jump through on your way and no clear-cut path as to how exactly to prepare or know if you’re ready for baby-making.

“It takes 10 months to grow a baby,” Lisa Schoenholt, certified prenatal and postnatal Pilates specialist and founder of Brooklyn Embodied, told Refinery29. “Give yourself six to 10 months to get your body ready.”

Read on for 6 ways to prepare your body to carry your baby-to-be.

Clean up your diet
You want to create the best possible environment for your little one to grow and that begins with saying goodbye to a junky diet. If possible, eat wholesome, organic, hormone-free, GMO-free, gluten-free foods that will provide the nutrition your body needs to function well. You’ll also want to stay away from soda and sugar as much as you can. 

Eat warm foods
Once you’ve tossed out all of the sugary junk in your pantry, you’ll want to bring in the good stuff- and that means warm foods. Two staples to begin working into your diet? Bone broth and turmeric. Bone broth is easily digested, anti-inflammatory, a natural fertility booster packed to the brim with collagen, glycine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous. Turmeric is hailed as “golden” for a reason- it’s anti-inflammatory and increases your body’s antioxidant capacity.

Learn to de-stress
If you have a stressful career or simply find yourself tense and on-edge more often than not, seek out ways you can unwind and allow your body to relax. Maybe that means downloading a calming app or podcast, visiting a meditation studio, attending yoga class, or soaking in the tub at the end of the day.

Toss out toxins
From food packaging to cleaning supplies to beauty products, make it your pre-baby mission to eliminate toxins from your life. Read labels and look for biodegradable products, made without petroleum, phosphates, solvents, or VOC. Your beauty products (even nail polish!) should not include parabens, phthalates, sulfites, toluene, fragrance, or formaldehyde.

Practice gut health
Did you know 70 percent of your immune system actually lives in your gut? If you’re not already taking a probiotic, now is the time to start, as getting ahead might make your pregnancy slightly easier, further on down the line. 

Try acupuncture
Don’t let the idea of needles stuck in funny places keep you from trying this fertility-boosting method. Acupuncture can actually help regulate hormones, increase blood flow to your uterus, and improve the function of your ovaries.

You’ll also want to read Why Eating Chocolate While Pregnant Is Actually Good for You or 5 Things to Know About Getting Pregnant After 35.