Do you know that the future health of your baby is decided  before you even conceive? Your preconception health is very important. Planning a baby is a demanding task, but if you plan it well you will have a healthier and easier pregnancy. 

These are a few tips which can do wonders

1. Relaxation at Work and Household Backup - Plan out your work schedule. You might need to change your work hours or may be change the job profile. You will also need someone to help you out with the household chores around this time.

2. Finances - Get your finances settled and insurance plan changed accordingly.

3. Lifestyle Modification - Eat healthy. Stop the intake of alcohol and stop smoking. Set aside a time for regular exercise if possible. Try to lose that extra flab and stay very active.

4. Reduce Stress - Create a support system for yourself. Engage in activities that uplift your mood.

5. Take Folic Acid -Take 400 mcg of folic acid tablet daily. It helps prevent birth defects of brain and spine in the baby.

6. Avoid Exposure to - Harmful chemicals, metals and toxic substances at workplace and home. Protect yourself from infections. Stay away from cats.

7. Up-to-Date Vaccination - Make sure your vaccination is complete. Vaccination against rubella and flu are very important. It is also important to maintain a gap of at least one month between your rubella shot and pregnancy planning.

8. Optimize your Medical Condition - If you have Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma, Epilepsy or any other medical condition you must take complete advice from the physician. Blood pressure and sugar levels have to be under full control. The type and dose of the drug may need modifications.

9. Check Family History - Ask your parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and cousins about any health problems in the family like genetic problems, mental retardation or malformations in babies. This can help your Gynaecologist to determine which problems to look for and how to prevent it. 

10. Visit your Doctor - Carry a record of your medical conditions, family history and a checklist of your queries. Get tested for Li Blood Group, Thalassemia, HIV, Thyroid Levels, and Blood Sugars.



Why Your Baby's Health is Decided Much Before You Even Conceive

Pregnancy is a blissful period, even with all the discomfort associated with it. And with proper awareness and caution, it is possible to keep pregnancy-related complications at bay to have a smooth sailing experience till you deliver the little bundle of joy.

Some women have health issues during pregnancy, while others suffer from disorders before pregnancy, leading to complications at the time of the pregnancy. It is very crucial for women to receive proper health care, both before and during pregnancy to reduce the risks of complications. Here are some common pregnancy complications that you should know about before you start planning a family.

Anemia: Anemia is a condition where you have lower than the desired number of healthy red blood cells. To deal with this condition, it is important to treat the underlying cause of anaemia. The most common symptom of this complication is feeling tired and weak even with the slightest physical exertions. You will have to eat a proper diet that consists of folic acid and iron supplements. Your healthcare provider will have to regularly monitor the iron levels during the time of pregnancy.
High blood pressure: Chronic high blood pressure before as well as during pregnancy puts the mother and the baby at risk. It is associated with increased maternal complications such as placental abruption, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes. It puts you at risk of preterm delivery and even infant death. It is crucial to handle this condition before pregnancy to mitigate the complications.
Obesity: Recent studies suggest that the heavier a woman is before pregnancy, the greater are her chances of developing pregnancy complications. Research suggests that obesity during pregnancy is related to increased use of health care services along with longer hospital stay after the delivery. It may also cause complications like gestational diabetes and stillbirth.
Urinary tract infections or UTI: A urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection of the urinary tract. The common symptoms of this disease include fever and shakiness, pain and burning sensation at the time of passing urine, a pressure in the lower belly, an urge to use the bathroom often along with reddish and cloudy urine. If you think you have this complication, you should consult your doctor immediately. Your doctor will most likely prescribe treatment for the same.
Placenta previa: Placenta previa occurs when a baby's placenta partially or totally covers the mother's cervix   the outlet for the uterus. Placenta previa can cause severe bleeding during pregnancy and delivery. You'll need a C-section to deliver your baby if the placenta previa doesn't resolve.
Talk to your gynaecologist if you think there is even the slightest chance of suffering from one of these complications to avoid the further dire consequences.

5 Pregnancy Complications That You Should Not Ignore!

The first 12 weeks of your pregnancy is a super important period when your pregnancy gets established and stabilized. There are so many little exciting and not so exciting changes happening in your body that it'll simply leave you amazed. If this is your first pregnancy and you are wondering what to expect, here is a quick view:&nbsp;

1. The big discovery: this is one of the most trying times in a woman's life when her mind is swinging, wondering if those periods just decided to postpone themselves or if there is an exciting reason behind the miss. This period is often spent wondering when exactly is the right time to do your first pregnancy test. The opinion on this varies a lot. Some women have been able to detect their pregnancy even before they missed their period. Others have got a false negative one week after missing their periods. The safest bet is to wait for around 8 days after your missed period and do a blood hcg test which gives a sure shot confirmation. And that moment when you find out and share with your spouse is something you'll treasure for life. There really is no feeling in the world that can match knowing that a small little life is taking shape inside you.

2. The good and not so good changes: though the kicking doesn't begin until later and the belly doesn't show, there are enough changes in your body to wonder what the little one is up to.&nbsp;
A. Morning sickness: one of the unfriendly side effects of pregnancy generally kicks in early during the first trimester. Unfortunately, it doesn't just last in the morning but mostly throughout the day. Some smells also trigger the feeling of nausea. Having small meals and keeping a good scent handy may help.&nbsp;
B. Mood swings: you can go from the heights of euphoria to the depths of depression with the speed of a roller coaster. The spouse is often the one bearing the brunt of this side effect leaving them confused. It is best to keep them in the loop so that they can take it to their stride and comfort you when you need it the most.&nbsp;
C. Weight loss / gain: though it is too early to pile on the pounds, your first trimester will see you gain a few pounds. In other cases, appetite loss and nausea may actually result in some weight loss. Keep your daily calorie intake in check during this period and concentrate on eating nutritious food with extra pregnancy sustaining supplements.
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3. Your baby's growth: in your first trimester, your baby goes from a single cell to a peach sized bundle that sprouts arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers and toes. And that first heartbeat - you are bound to skip a heartbeat when you hear that.&nbsp;

If you are wondering if you are pregnant or experiencing some unusual symptoms, then consult a doctor.


First Trimester Pregnancy - What To Expect

Precum is nothing but release or ejaculation of the fluid from the penis during sexual stimulation. Normally, it acts as a lubricant during sex. The amount of precum that a normal human body releases may vary from person to person. Suppose the body is releasing the extra amount of precum that means that the body is releasing that amount of fluid which would be considered as the normal release of fluid from the body. The main purpose of the precum is to neutralize the acidic nature of the urethra. Basically, this helps the sperm to be active inside the woman s body. Precum may contain immobile, dead and some weak sperms as well. 

Origin
It comes from Cowper s gland Secretions and the actual ejaculation comes from testicles. Normally, when a healthy man is energized or is aroused then, he pre-ejaculates where the fluid flows through the urethra, the place where the urine passes out. It acts as a lubricant to the female partner s vagina. It also tries to neutralize the acid which reduces the chances of pregnancy. This works as a clear method for enhancing the pregnancy.

Difference between pre-cum and sperm
The basic difference between sperm and precum is that the injection of the sperm into a woman s body would lead to pregnancy while in case of precum, the rate of pregnancy is quite low. Pregnancy is caused only due to sperms which do not originate from the Cowper's gland. Thus, sperm and precum are way more different than each other.

Can precum make a woman pregnant?
There have been several deliberations on the issue of whether precum can make someone pregnant or not. Well, in many situations it has been found that it has the capability of making a person pregnant. But the chances are quite low as the presence of sperm in the precum is comparatively lower which would not lead to pregnancy as the content of the sperm is quite lower and sperm is considered to be imperative for pregnancy. There is quite a thin line of difference between ejaculation and precum as sometimes they might get mixed if the withdrawal method is a bit longer. Even if the withdrawal method is delayed by a few seconds, a woman can get pregnant.

Can it cause STDs?
Normally, people get intimidated by precum because they think that it might cause pregnancy, but instead of pregnancy, there s a high possibility of Sexually transmitted diseases to be caused which is way more dangerous than getting pregnant. In case of precum, the chances of pregnancy are a wee bit lower than that of STDs. While for STDs, if an individual gets into contact with any of the infected precum, then there s quite a high chance of getting in contact with any STDs.

For treatment related to such issues, please consult. 


Pre-Cum - Can It Make A Woman Pregnant?

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are two commonly used methods of fertility treatment, which increase a couple s chance of becoming pregnant.

The Procedure

IUI- IUI is a procedure during which processed and concentrated motile sperm are inserted directly into a woman s uterus. This procedure is timed according to a woman s ovulation, and may be performed one to two times in the days immediately following the detection of ovulation. After ovulation a woman s egg is picked up by the fallopian tube and waits there for the sperm. Since the IUI procedure deposits higher concentrations of good quality sperm close to where the egg is waiting, the chances that the egg and sperm will find one another are increased.

IVF- IVF is the most successful method of fertility treatment utilized today to help couples to conceive. The basic components of the IVF process include stimulation of the ovaries to produce multiple eggs at a time, removal of the eggs from the ovary (egg retrieval), fertilization of the eggs in the laboratory, and subsequent placement of the resulting embryos into the uterus (embryo transfer). The chance of pregnancy from IVF depends primarily on the age of the woman, the cause of infertility, and factors related to the quality of the IVF laboratory.

Success Rates

IUI Treatment: There is a marked difference between IVF and IUI pregnancy rates. IUI has a success rate between 5% and 20%, but it can even be as low as 1-2 %, depending on the woman s age and fertility levels. The chances of conceiving through IUI is higher if fertility drugs are administered along with the treatment.

IVF Treatment: IVF has a high success rate   between 20% and 35% and it can even go as high as 40%. This may not seem like a lot, but it is very high, considering that an average young and fertile couple has only a 15-20% chance to conceive in a month. It is important to understand what IVF and IUI success rates mean and the factors that affect it before deciding on a fertility treatment. You can also use any reliable online IUI vs IVF comparison tool to determine your approximate success rates with each of these treatments, depending on your age, lifestyle, and medical history.

You should use online sources of information to understand more about fertility problems, how age affects fertility levels, and whether freezing your eggs is a good option for you. However, discuss all these issues with your doctor to ensure that you have the right information and that you have understood it correctly. Fertility specialists provide you with personalized fertility plans based on your health which is why you should always talk to them before you make any decision.

IVF or IUI - Which One Should You Opt for?

Most people will give you a blatant No. And they are quite right to do so. But if you have been a habitual offender who can't unwind without their drink, pregnancy is going to be a big problem. So does the rule stand in all cases? What if you drank when you didn't know you were pregnant yet? What if you had a light drink here and there, will it literally spell disaster? Let's find out.

Contradictory advice everywhere: Most doctors will advice you to stay away completely from alcohol as soon as that first positive emerges in your test. Others may give you a little leeway and let you have an occasional drink. There are friends who'll confess to have cheated during their pregnancy and snuck in a beer or two and say that their kids turned out just fine. There are other friends will scorn on you for even thinking such a thing. Same goes for your relatives. Like all things in pregnancy, random advice will just not work.

How much can you drink? Let's assume that you are confident nothing will happen and want to be adventurous and give it a cautious try. Danish researchers have some good news for you. Some studies have shown that low to moderate consumption of alcohol does not harm the baby. In fact, in 2012, Danish researchers released a highly publicized study that found no major problems in children below 5 years whose mothers had consumed 1- 8 alcoholic drinks a week during pregnancy.

Unfortunately, not all research is made equal. With pregnancy, each mother, each child and progression of each pregnancy is different. It really has to be on a case by case basis and nothing can be taken on face value. Most people will still advise you to completely go off alcohol as there is 'no safe' amount during pregnancy. Some women have a larger quantity of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol. If a woman with lower levels of this enzyme drinks alcohol, it is more likely to harm her unborn child as the alcohol will remain in her bloodstream longer.

How alcohol can affect your child?

A number of disorders that can affect your child when in the womb and even after because of alcohol consumption. These disorders are collectively called 'Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder'. It is characterized by increased risk in miscarriage and stillbirth. It can also result in the baby having low birth weight and increase problems with learning, speech, attention span, language and hyperactivity. Alcohol consumption may also affect girl child and a baby boy differently. While both may turn out to have aggressive and delinquent behaviour, girls are more likely to develop mental health problems too.

If you are unable to give up on alcohol, you need to immediately get professional help to overcome your addiction. Also note that the term 'non-alcoholic' beverage is misleading as they can contain trace amounts of it. Consult a doctor today on which drinks are safe for you.

Alcohol in Pregnancy: Is it Safe?

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