This period is about preparing a woman to be in the best shape to carry a pregnancy. We usually recommend a period of 3 months to cleanse, condition, strengthen and support a woman. This may involve the use of certain homotoxicological preparations to detox, certain Chiropractic adjustments to bring about good tone to the pelvic floor, dietary advice and stress reduction techniques to ensure that a woman is emotionally invested in the outcome.

If you haven’t been able to fall pregnant, or are wanting to, here is some advice:

Learn your womanly bits  

If you paid attention in biology class, you can skip this one. If not, here’s a refresher: you have ovaries. Your ovaries contain eggs. Sometime in the midst of your menstrual cycle (on average, around 14 days after your period starts), your ovaries release an egg, which starts a several-day journey toward your uterus (aka womb). If a sperm is hanging around and manages to hook up with the egg, you get pregnant. If not, your body flushes out the egg with a menstrual period. End of lesson.

Know your odds 

Don’t stress if you don’t get pregnant right away. After all, you’ve only got about a 20% chance each time you ovulate (unless you’re a teenager in the backseat of your parents’ car. Then we’re guessing your odds rise to about 72 percent). Seriously, you have about a three-day window of fertility each cycle. You have to have sex at just the right time, and the sperm has to swim a long, long way to seal the deal. At Essential Health Chiropractic, our  approach may be effective in the management of some women during pregnancy.

Take your vitamins  

It’s best to start popping prenatal vitamins at least two months before you start trying, and you should start getting at least 400mcg of folic acid each day as far as a year or two in advance. When taken before and during the early weeks of pregnancy, folic acid has been shown to greatly decrease the risk of neural tube defects (like spina bifida). You can also find folic acid in foods like spinach, black beans, orange juice, and strawberries. For more information on vitamins, read the following section.

Pregnancy Care

Make sure you have the right people who you trust to give you support. If you are looking at having your baby in the hospital, be sure to talk to our Chiropractors who can give you advice as to who they would recommend. Remember, it is important that you find the right doctor who will work with you. Otherwise, there are also some great birthing centres which we could recommend. At the end of the day, where you choose to have your baby is what is most comfortable for you.

Do it already!  

Most healthcare professionals recommend that you have fun and don’t worry too much about perfect timing in the first three months of trying. If you’re excited to boost your odds, though, here are a few tricks:

• Sex during the three days before ovulation gives you the best chance of conception. Check your estimated ovulation date on our ovulation calculator.
• Tilt your pelvis after sex, so that gravity can help the sperm swim towards your cervix.
• Orgasm. The pulsing that results can also help the sperm swim to
  its destination (how this is achieved is, of course, up to you and your partner).
• Lose the lube. Most lubricants (including saliva) act as barriers to your man’s little swimmers. If you must have some help, the lubricant Pre-Seed claims to be “sperm friendly,” or simply indulge in a little extra foreplay.