Pre-conception Nutrition
Setting the foundations
The first 1000 days of a baby’s life starts just prior to conception. The first 1000 days and epigenetics is a window of opportunity in which parents can impact the foundations of health for your child later in life. We can work with you to optimise your nutrition before you plan to become pregnant. We work with couples who are planning to conceive as well as couples undergoing fertility treatment.
Optimising nutrition prior to conception
Most people are aware that eating well during pregnancy is important for the outcomes for mum and baby. However, what you eat and your nutritional status pre-conception can be just as important. It is a good idea to develop good dietary habits before you become pregnant and ensure you aren’t missing any key nutrients such as iron, zinc and folate. With around half of all pregnancies being unplanned, the time to make changes to your diet and lifestyle may be sooner than you expect. We can work together to optimise your pre-conception nutrition around 3-6 months prior to pregnancy.
Sperm Health
Healthy and functioning sperm are required to conceive a baby. We see couples including the male partner to discuss dietary changes to optimise sperm health. There are a variety of diet and lifestyle factors which can influence sperm health which we consider during a dietetic assessment. We see men who are planning to conceive or early in their journey, as well as men who have known male factor infertility.
Egg Health
We work with women to optimise their egg health prior to conception both for those without any known fertility issues as well and for those women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as ovulation induction (OI), intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). We would recommend optimising your nutrition to support egg health at least one to three months prior to egg collection or conception. Whilst, we can not modify the number of eggs we are born with, or the age of the eggs, we can consider the nutrition and lifestyle or environmental impacts on egg quality.
Ovulation and the menstrual cycle
When trying to conceive we want to support a regular menstrual cycle and ovulation. Nutrition can impact both menstrual cyclicity and ovulation. We can provide recommendations for dietary changes that can support your menstrual cycle and ovulation to optimise your chance of conceiving. Evidence suggests that a combination of five or more lifestyle factors including diet, weight management and physical activity were associated with a 69% lower risk of ovulatory disorder infertility.
Nutrition Supplements
The internet contains a lot of conflicting information, especially regarding prenatal supplements to take prior to conceiving and/or during pregnancy. New Zealand has guidelines regarding folic acid, iodine and Vitamin D, however any other supplements should be individually tailored by an experienced dietitian. We can assess your individual needs based on your medical history and dietary intake and ensure you have diet and/or supplement recommendations that are appropriate for your individual nutrition requirements.
Get Started!
Book a consultation and find out what dietary changes you can make to manage your symptoms