Preconception care is not a fad!
And is not a new idea. Chinese medicine text from thousands of years ago discusses the importance of generational health and how it can impact future health. Being well should be the norm for all of us. The preconception care period is a conscious decision to be the best version of yourself. It is an important time to establish optimal health and wellness to improve the chances of conception and support your baby’s health. This applies to both females and males, as the health of both the egg (from females) and the sperm (from males) influence fertility outcomes.
I grew up in a time that it was common knowledge that smoking, and alcohol weren’t good for you or your baby. Oh, how things have changed. It is a little more complicated and pressing to look beyond these few lifestyle factors. Current research demonstrates that the decline in male and female fertility is a multifaceted health predicament involving a multitude of environmental, lifestyle and dietary factors.
Preconception care, therefore, is the ultimate in preventative medicine. At DCNMC, we love empowering optimal health choices. We believe it is ideal both partners have the opportunity to assess and address any issues that may compromise fertility. It is also important to take the time to reduce any toxic exposure, achieve a healthy body composition and build nutritional credit to give every opportunity for fertility, an uncomplicated pregnancy and a healthy baby. Stress and nutrition are major environmental signals that influence both fertility and the developing foetus. These are important areas make changes to.
Preconception care should ideally begin at least 4 -6 months prior to the conception attempts. The ova take 3 months to mature and 2- 4 months for sperm to develop. Therefore, changes made with the assistance of our DCNMC team, will be seen from approximately the 3 month mark.
A special highlight on Male Fertility health.
Shout out to my past and current male clients who are creating new norms and including Acupuncture as part of their fertility health is support! Well done!
Did you know that there has been a sharp decline in sperm counts worldwide!!! So much so, that the WHO – World Health Organisation – has moved ‘normal ranges’ down a few times!! For example, a normal morphology range was 80% in 1980, 50% in 1987, 20% in 1992 and 14% in 1999. Now normal morphology is 4%. This means, 4 out of every 100 sperm have normal head and the rest have a defect. EEEK, Doesn’t seem okay does it.
So what can be done? As discusses, there are so many environmental, dietary and lifestyle factors that can be addressed. Not sure where to start or want to know more?
Come talk with us at DCNMC.
Written By Dr Clancy Street- Acupuncturist