Even if you’ve done the three steps in Part 1 and Part 2, you’ve still got more you can do before you conceive to improve your pregnancy’s health.
4. Get immunized
Did you get all your shots as a child? Are you up-to-date on all your boosters? If you haven’t gotten or aren’t sure if you’ve gotten the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and the Hepatitis B vaccine, now’s the time to get it done. If you didn’t get chickenpox as a child, you need the varicella vaccine too. And if you haven’t gotten a tetanus booster in the past ten years, you need one of those.
Play it safe and take your shot records along with you to your preconception appointment with your doctor and have him make sure you’re up-to-date. He may want to do some blood tests to make sure you’ve still got immunity to some of the things you were vaccinated against as a child.
Additionally, if it’s flu season when you’re thinking of trying, go ahead and get the flu vaccine. If it’s not yet flu season, don’t freak out yet, you can (and should) get your flu shot while you’re pregnant if you happen to be pregnant when the next flu shot becomes available.
I got all my shots as a child (including the MMR) and got the Hepatitis B vaccine when I first started working in healthcare. I had chickenpox three times, the last time of which rendered me immune (and allows me to experience shingles as an adult). I get a flu shot every year, this one no exception… and I cut myself badly enough that I got a Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and acellular pertusis) booster earlier this year. So no shots for me until next flu season (and another Tdap in my third trimester, since pertussis or “whooping cough” is not something I want to mess with and getting a shot myself is the best way to protect my newborn).
5. Take care of your teeth
Does this seem a weird one to you? It kinda does to me.
But it’s true. Having healthy teeth and gums can make a big difference in your pregnancy. Gum disease prior to pregnancy increases adverse pregnancy outcomes. It’s wild but true. And while you can try to get your teeth healthy during pregnancy, there isn’t really much evidence that this helps prevent those adverse pregnancy outcomes. You’ve got to get to it beforehand. So, if you haven’t had a dental cleaning in the past 6 months, get one scheduled. If you don’t already brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, get started. And if you aren’t flossing every single day? Find a floss or an interdental cleaner that you will use and start using it. (Flossing is the single best way to prevent or solve the gum disease that increases pregnancy risk.)
And if you’ve been putting off some dental work that needs to be done? Get it done before you start trying to get pregnant. If you have teeth that need extracted (like my wisdom teeth!), it’s tons nicer to be able to be OUT for the procedure – and they won’t do that if you’re pregnant. Maybe you just need a cavity filled? While you can get that done during pregnancy, it’s best to avoid silver-amalgam (aka mercury amalgam) fillings during pregnancy – and it’s also a good idea to avoid doing anything in the mouth that might release some of the mercury from your existing fillings into your bloodstream. So get that dental work done now!
Up-to-date on your cleanings and don’t have any work that needs done? Don’t worry about it. Keep practicing good oral hygiene; you can keep your next 6-month check up even if you’re pregnant when that comes around.
We’re on the home stretch now – I’ll be talking next about how to choose the right vitamin(s) to start taking to prepare your body for pregnancy and then we’ll be READY TO START TRYING!