Preconception Health Screening

Being a mother is considered as a blessing by most of the women. It cannot be said as a 9 month procedure. It is important to take much care before, during and after pregnancy. A woman, who is trying to get pregnant should follow the essential guide for getting pregnant. During the period when you are trying to get pregnant, you should first cut out all the habits that are harmful to your baby. This include:

Alcohol consumption: You should completely avoid consuming alcohol.
Smoking: Smoking will harm your health, no matter if you are pregnant or not. Smoking during pregnancy can cause problems such as low-birth weight babies, preterm deliveries and infant deaths.
Hazardous chemicals: Certain chemicals can be teratogenic. It is better to avoid hazardous chemicals.
Stress: Stress during or before pregnancy can cause many issues. It has been linked to delayed or missed periods that can cause difficulty tracking ovulation and getting pregnant. Try to be calm and happy even though it is not possible always. Relaxation techniques like yoga can help you in keeping calm.
Herbs: Researches have not found much about the effect of herbs on pregnancy. You can discuss it with your doctor.
Caffeine: Studies have found link between high levels of caffeine consumption and delayed consumption. It is evident in some of the studies that, consuming more than 200mg caffeine will increase the risk of having miscarriage than that of those who do not consume coffee.

Instead of these harmful habits, you should practice new healthy habits such as:

Practice exercising in order to improve your health. You can perform exercise based on your health requirement. That is, if you want to increase your weight or if you want to decrease your overweight, exercise can help you. You can even practice simple and harmless exercises such as walking, swimming, cycling, aerobics etc.
Reading books during pregnancy can add advantages. Being educated and prepared can help you to decrease your mental stress.
Keeping the track of your menstrual cycle can be more helpful before you get pregnant. It helps in tracking ovulation and increase your chance of your pregnancy.
Practicing relaxation techniques can help you from having mental stress and tension.
Have eight hours of good sleep. It can also help you in relieving stress and tension.
Eat healthy food items enriched in vitamins and proteins.

First thing you have to do is to visit doctor when you decide to get pregnant. Conduct tests to diagnose if you have any disease conditions. Take proper medication to prevent those before pregnancy. Problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia, thyroid problems, STDs should be tested before you get pregnant. Other testing and screening may include:

Pap smear
Breast exam
Blood type
Immunity to Rubella (measles) and
Immunity to Varicella (chicken pox) etc should be conducted before getting pregnant. It is to ensure a healthy and risk less pregnancy and delivery.