Pregnancy Pathway, Conception — Health Status

Today: How the mother’s health sta­tus at the time of con­cep­tion affects the pregnancy.

For com­plete graphic, see Feb. 5 or 23 post.

The Impact of Health Sta­tus at the time of conception.

When a woman becomes preg­nant, her health can be a major fac­tor how her preg­nancy will pro­ceed. If she has been exposed to a vir­u­lent infec­tion, it may have an impact on how well the implan­ta­tion goes. If she has meta­bolic syn­drome, she is at risk for com­pli­ca­tions such as ges­ta­tional diabetes.

On the other hand, if she has taken care of her­self, is phys­i­cally fit and well nour­ished, is well rested and has not been exposed to ill­nesses that induce dra­matic changes in her immune sys­tem, she has done her best to cre­ate a sit­u­a­tion in which her body is best pre­pared for the rig­ors of pregnancy.

There are still genetic and envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors that can affect the course of the preg­nancy, but behav­ior is the one fac­tor that women have con­trol over. At Danc­ing Thru Preg­nancy we are fond of the notion that if you know a cer­tain behav­ior is the best for a sit­u­a­tion, it is smart to chose that behav­ior; if you do not, you are sab­o­tag­ing yourself.

So, if preg­nancy is in your head­lights, eat right, exer­cise, and be cau­tious about expo­sure to ill­ness and infec­tion. Wash your hands, use one of the hand cleansers, prac­tice safe sex (okay, so if you are try­ing to get pg, this may change, but in the meantime!).

We wel­come com­ments on what you are doing to be healthy for pregnancy!

Curl-up! Strong abs are part of phys­i­cal fitness!