Getting pregnant is not all that has to be done when attempting to have a baby. Avoiding unwanted complications of pregnancy such as miscarriage, premature birth or congenital abnormality are equally important. Appropriate care around the time of conception can help reduce the chance of unwanted problems in pregnancy.
Improving your chance of successful pregnancy
When trying to achieve a pregnancy a couple should ensure that they look after their general health BEFORE pregnancy is achieved - this applies to the man as well as the woman. There is no doubt that if a man is in poor health or is exposed to harmful substances prior to his partner conceiving that this can affect the outcome of the pregnancy - particularly smoking, large amounts of alcohol or un-prescribed drugs. For a woman a good diet and adequate amounts of folic acid (usually given by supplement) are particularly important. Click here to find out more.
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis
It is possible to prevent many genetically inherited conditions by diagnosing the presence (or absence) of them in embryos prior to implantation. This is a complex treatment known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and involves the use of in vitro fertilisation. Embryos produced through IVF are biopsied and tested. Click here to find out more about PGD.
Miscarriage is a common. Approximately 1 in 5 clinical pregnancies (those which the average person would recognize) end in miscarriage. The risk of miscarriage is age dependent. The older you are the higher the risk. So, if you are under 20 years the risk is only 1 in 10 but by age 45 it is 1 in 2. With this knowledge it is obvious that minimizing the chance of miscarriage is of major benefit. Click here to find out more about miscarriage minimization.
Once a pregnancy has been achieved you will be anxious to be reassured that all is going well. It will be important to you to gain as much information as possible about the progress of your pregnancy. This is the role of early pregnancy monitoring. Click here to find out more about early pregnancy monitoring.