Prenatal Vitamins to Support Fertility
We all want to create a happy and healthy baby when we start to think about trying to conceive. We know the important things to do and take prior to pregnancy to make sure our body is ready to provide all of the nutrients needed for our baby to grow and flourish in the womb, but sometimes a reminder is always good. In this article, we are going to explore the best prenatal vitamins to help increase women’s and men’s fertility when trying to conceive, and go over our top 5 tips and supplements for pre-conception and pregnancy.
Detox – Before starting to try to fall pregnant, you may consider a gentle detox program. This helps to clean the body of toxins and creates a cleansed and healthy environment for your baby to develop. Eating a clean diet, and eliminating alcohol, tobacco and caffeine can help to create a more baby positive environment. You want to ensure that you don’t try and detox too quickly or make it too complicated, the less stress on your body the better. We recommend cleanse packs like the Now 15 Day Easy Cleanse or Good Health Body Cleanse (at the 1 month maintenance dose).
Hormones – Balancing your hormones can aid in helping to fall pregnant and may help you to have a more balanced pregnancy. Herbs like Vitex Agnus Castus (or Chaste Tree), Maca and Dim are known to help support normal ovulation and menstruation cycles, which can aid in fertility. Hormonal support supplements should be taken for a minimum of 3 months prior to conception, as it can take 3 months to correct any imbalances. For men, increasing testosterone levels can produce faster and stronger sperm, and balancing your hormones (yes, men need hormonal balancing too) can help to improve energy, vitality and sexual desire. For women, products like the Xcel Health Femplex is a great hormonal balancer and can be taken up until you find out that you are pregnant. For men, Pure Vitality His Vigor Vitality helps to promote sexual health, hormonal balance and energy levels. Go Man Plus also provides a combination of herbs to support sexual health, energy levels and glandular balance.
Vitamins & Minerals – Ensuring that we have enough stores of nutrients in our body prior to conception can help to make the whole experience as special and manageable as it can be. Keep in mind that your baby needs to take minerals, vitamins and nutrients from your body to help it develop, so it's important you have enough nutrient stores so you don’t become completely ‘drained’. This can make a huge difference on you and your baby, both during pregnancy and after.
Minerals are essential in our body as they nourish our nervous and muscular systems. Making sure that you have adequate levels prior to conception can help to create a calm, happy baby. Radiance Preconception & Pregnancy Multi has been specifically formulated to contain everything needed to provide nutritional support for you and your growing baby. In individuals that are stressed or are a “high mineral user” taking a complete mineral supplement alongside a high quality multivitamin could be more beneficial. Now Full Spectrum Mineral Caps is a high dose 1:1 Calcium and Magnesium mineral supplement that can be taken alongside a good quality women’s multivitamin like the NZ made Xcel Health Multi-Vite.
Vitamins and Minerals are not just important for women, but also for men. Vitamin A, C, E and Zinc all play a role in helping with fertility. Vitamin and Mineral supplements for men containing A, C, E and Zinc can help with sperm production, support reproductive organs, aid in vitality and protect against free radical damage.
Adding an Omega 3 supplement that is high in DHA is also a great addition prior to, and during conception. DHA helps to improve brain function, and is really important for growing babies. Products like the Nordic Natural Prenatal DHA or the MumOmega are great supplements to choose.
Iron – we have talked about minerals before, but Iron is a very important mineral that should be highlighted separately. A lot of women have low levels of iron prior to conception, which, as we know can make us feel tired, irritable and emotional. Growing babies take huge amounts of iron from mum’s body, and if our levels are low while we are pregnant, there can end up being next to nothing left by the time baby is born. Low iron levels have also been attributed to postnatal depression. If a baby is born in a body with low levels of iron, it makes sense that baby will also have low levels of iron, and this can start a cycle of anaemia from the get go.
Choosing the right iron supplement is very important, as you want to be able to absorb as much of the iron as you can, without any unpleasant side effects, like constipation. Xcel Health’s Superior Iron contains a non-constipating form of iron – Iron Bisglycinate – and the co-factors Folic Acid, B12 and Vitamin C, help with the absorption and utilisation of the iron in the body.
Ovulation – Typically women have a 7 day window of ovulation and on one of those days you are ovulating (your egg is released). This normally happens around day 14-16 (counting from the first day of true bleeding), but this can vary for each women. Using a period diary app or keeping an eye on your vaginal discharge can give you a good indication of when you are ovulating. During your fertile time, discharge will become clear and slippery, resembling egg whites. You can also help to take the guesswork out of it by using a devise like the Maybe Baby Fertility tester. This little microscope helps you to identify your most fertile times by detecting levels of oestrogen in your saliva. You can test as many times as your like, noticing the difference in your saliva during each part of your cycle. Patterns in the saliva show what your levels are like, changing from pebbles and dots to a ‘fern’ like pattern when your oestrogen levels have peaked and you are ovulating.
Remember that a stressed or unhappy body will make it harder for you to fall pregnant. So in preparation for conception try to relax, take some time out for yourself and treat your body like the temple you want to grow your perfect little human in.