The first step down the road to a healthy baby is a healthy mother.

If you are thinking about having a baby "someday," now is the time to start getting ready. Jane Engeldinger, M.D., an obstetrician with UI Health Care, says one way to determine how physically ready you are to become pregnant is to ask yourself some questions. Are you eating the right foods? What kind of physical shape are you in? Do you need to lose weight? Do you get enough exercise? Do you smoke? What medications are you taking? Are you up-to-date on all your immunizations?

She suggests the best way to get the answers you need is to start with a physical. This physical may include a thorough medical history, including any information about previous pregnancies, inherited diseases, and chronic conditions you may have. You may be screened for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, vaginal and urinary tract infections, rubella (German measles), and chicken pox.

Following your physical, your care provider may make suggestions to help you improve your health and your lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant. To schedule a pre-pregnancy physical, call UI Health Access at 800-777-8442 or 319-384-8442.

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A strong start is the first step to a good finish, which is a healthy baby--someday. Look at getting pregnant and having a baby as a year-long process. The first three months are to help you become as healthy as possible so that when you do get pregnant you carry a healthy baby the remaining nine months.

During your pregnancy, your body will "demand" folic acid, iron, zinc, vitamin B6 and iron. Get a head start on that demand. Change your nutrition habits now.

Folic acid is one of the few nutrients known to prevent neural tube birth defects, such as spina bifida, which affects one in every 1,000 babies born in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control report that women who take the recommended daily dosage of folic acid reduce their baby's risk of some types of birth defects by 50 percent. Food sources of folic acid include dried beans and peas, liver, avocado, asparagus, spinach, Brussels sprouts, oranges, romaine lettuce, and wheat germ.

Iron requirements during pregnancy almost double as more red blood cells are made to carry oxygen through your body to your baby. Food sources of heme iron (easy-to-absorb dietary iron) include red meats. Non-heme iron sources such as breads, cereals, dried peas and beans, dark green vegetables, and dried fruits are not as easily absorbed and require Vitamin C to help your body absorb the iron from the foods.

Zinc helps organize cells into healthy tissues and organs so your baby has what it needs during the first weeks of pregnancy when vital organs are being developed. Food sources include oysters, liver, meat and poultry, lobster, crab, wheat germ, soybean flour, dried beans and peas, milk, and yogurt.

Vitamin B6 also helps your baby's cells to form. It is found in bananas, eggs, soybean flour, poultry, avocados, dried figs, meat, wheat germ, and dried beans and peas.

Calcium helps build and maintain strong bones and teeth. If you don't get enough calcium to support the needs of both you and your baby, your baby will pull the calcium it needs from your body, leaving your bones and teeth in poor condition. Sources of calcium include dairy products, kale, tofu set with calcium, Chinese cabbage, almonds, white beans, sesame seeds, and broccoli.

Talk with your care provider to see if you need to take supplements to insure you get the proper level of these important nutrients.

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• Quit smoking NOW! Make your home a smoke-free area.
• Decrease your caffeine intake to zero as soon as you miss your period.
• Decrease your alcohol consumption to zero as soon as you miss your period.
• Talk with your care provider about the medications, both prescription and non-prescription, you take. Medications can affect getting pregnant and the health of the subsequent baby. Stop taking all illegal drugs.
• Check with your care provider about what vitamins and minerals are appropriate for you. Begin taking a multiple vitamin before you begin trying to become pregnant.
• If you have missed a period, avoid aspirin and ibuprofen. Take acetaminophen instead.
• Be sure you are current on your rubella immunization.
• Stop taking birth control pills one month before you begin trying to get pregnant.

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• U.S. Food & Drug Administration
  Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby
• The Nemours Foundation
  Eating During Pregnancy
• Nutrition for You, Nutrition for Two

Listed above are several Web sites that offer additional information on this topic. University of Iowa Health Care does not sponsor or endorse these sites, or guarantee the accuracy of the information contained on these sites. These links are here for general information only, and should not be used for personal diagnosis or treatment. If you have any questions, please contact UI Health Access.

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