PRE CONCEPTIONAL CARE

IMPORTANCE OF PRE CONCEPTIONAL CARE

Dr.Divya Siju BAMS,MD

     Ante natal care and post natal care are very important to ensure the well being of both the mother and her child. But, preconception care is also equally important. Obstetrics complications are unpredictable. The pregnant woman is facing the environmental pollution, diet and lifestyle changes, infertility treatments, hormonal changes and stress. All the factors are affecting pregnancy and foetus. Preconceptional care is considered as the “Preventive Obstetrics”. It helps to minimize complications of pregnancy by changing the physical and mental status of couple willing for pregnancy.

But in stressful society couples give more importance to carrier than family and so not paying attention towards proper marital age, sex timing, dincharya & Ritucharya. As a result they are more prone to physical & psychological problems.

It is the need of this era to revitalize the ancient methods of health care to incorporate its benefits for the mankind.

  The Ayurvedic preconceptional care begins with :

1. The selection of the right partner, both constitutional and age wise.
2. It then explains about the right mode of conception and the importance of food and water in establishing a firm foundation from the very beginning of pregnancy.

For healthy young couples as well as couples facing fertility issues, the preconception care as per Ayurveda ensures a physically, mentally, intellectually healthy progeny.

To prepare for the desirable and quality pregnancy outcome, preconception care is essential and may reduce the risk of adverse outcomes such as congenital defects, miscarriage and preterm delivery.

Ayurveda stresses immense significance to the preparation of both partners prior to conception.

Preconception care is a broad term that refers to the process of identifying social, behavioural, environmental, and biomedical risks to a woman’s fertility and pregnancy outcome and then reducing these risks through education, counselling, and appropriate intervention, when possible, before conception.

A Brief Look at Stress and Fertility

Let’s pause and look specifically at stress, since it is intimately connected with all aspects of nutritious fluids. Stress can literally shut down the pituitary, the hormonal centre of the brain that sends the first messengers to the ovaries so that ovulation occurs. Constant stimulation from cortisol, the stress hormone, puts the nervous system in a state of alert and panic, which has a very drying effect as well. The body ingeniously conserves its resources for the perceived threat and puts less vital functions, such as reproduction, on the back burner.

While more studies are needed, there is a growing body of research that increasingly links even more subtle stress levels with the ability to reproduce. Stress, trauma, and anxiety have been shown to affect fertility rates, as well as the quality and quantity of sperm and testosterone. There are accounts of women who previously had difficulties with conception suddenly conceiving after resolving stressful situations or healing past pain.

The bottom line here is to not forget stress in your approach to optimizing your fertility. Doing so can make all the difference in the world and can be incredibly healing on many levels.

The Emotional Side of Fertility

Fertility is more than the physical act of becoming pregnant. It begins with your first true desire to begin a new family. This desire serves as an invitation to the new soul.

In this way, understand that fertility is equally spiritual and emotional as it is physical. Appreciate that achieving fertility is also about achieving the healthiest child possible on all dimensions so that the soul may fulfil its purpose to the highest degree.

There are many non-traditional routes for building a family, including donor eggs and in vitro fertilization, that some of your individual situations may call for. In those cases, jump in and out along the series of steps as appropriate. Even in the case of adoption, most of these steps still apply since the cleansing and building also serve the spiritual and emotional preparation that is common to all routes.

To summarise

The preconception time offers a golden opportunity to provide the best of the both of you to your future child. Ayurvedic preconception care takes advantage of our body’s natural ability to cleanse and renew. No matter what your past experiences with fertility are.

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