What is Preconception Care

What is Preconception Care?

Put simply, preconception health care aims to ensure that there is an adequate supply of all those nutritional factors, which are essential for the health of sperm, ova and foetus and an absence of those factors which are known to compromise general health or which are harmful to germ cells and to foetal development.

The combined evidence of many eminent researchers shows that conditions such as subfertility, miscarriage, low birth weight, premature birth, malformation, breast-feeding difficulties, handicap, hyperactivity, learning problems, asthma, eczema, and poor resistance to infection, are often preventable. This is achieved by attending to the health and lifestyle of both prospective parents before they conceive a child.

“We both thought Kristin’s knowledge and guidance was fantastic
and appreciated the educational aspects to the visits.” ~ Bec & Paul

Why is there renewed interest in Preconception Care now?

Currently,

1 couple in 6 is infertile

1 woman in 4 will suffer a miscarriage

1 baby in 10 is born prematurely

1 in 30 is born with a congenital defect

1 child (at least) in every 4 suffers from a learning or behaviour problem

1 child in 5 suffers from asthma

1 child in 17 is malformed

Yet the combined evidence of many leading medical researchers shows that all these conditions are frequently preventable with preconception health care.

Preconception care is not however a new idea. Many traditional societies practiced preconception health care, such as the Ancient Greeks and Romans whose conceiving couples abstained from alcohol prior to and during pregnancy due to its damaging effects on the development of the foetus.

Many traditional societies fed special diets to their young women and men of childbearing age.

Veterinarians, stockbreeders and farmers all practice preconception health care, by feeding selective diets to their animals prior to conception attempts.

What are the benefits of Preconception Care?

Preconception Health Care can help to:

Resolve infertility in both females and males

Decrease the risks of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth

Decrease the risk of congenital malformations

Improve general and reproductive health

Avoid post-natal depression

How long does Preconception Care take?

Since a woman’s ova (eggs) are susceptible to damage for 100 days before ovulation and since sperm formation takes approximately 116 days, the pregnancy preparation for both prospective parents should be for a minimum period of four months before an intended conception.

Consultation Fees:

Initial consultation:	Female Only: 1.5 hour - $120.00 Couple: 2 hours - $175
Follow-up consults:	½ hour - $45.00 1 hour - $65.00
	Rebates may apply

Dispensary Fees:

Herbal medicines and nutritional supplements are charged in addition to the consulting fee. Costs vary greatly according to individual treatment needs.

“After 2 prior miscarriages, we conceived on our first attempt during the 5th month of the program,
and I am now 6 months pregnant and have had a great pregnancy so far!”
~ A.P.

What’s involved in Preconception Care?

Most importantly, both partners equally undertake preconception health care: 50% of the genetic material comes from the female and 50% from the male. Unlike conventional treatments for infertility, the role of the prospective father during the preconception care period requires the same involvement as the prospective mother. This is simply because the father provides at least 50% of the contribution to a health conception. This is also the case if even if there are no fertility ‘problems’.

Sperm are even more vulnerable than eggs to toxic exposure and nutritional deficiency. Unlike eggs, which are safely cocooned within the mother's body and are only vulnerable during maturation, sperm are generated wholly during the preconception period, and therefore exposed to any physiological or environmental hazards present at that time. Sperm are also smaller than eggs and are held outside the body, increasing their susceptibility.

The other essential component of preconception health care is optimal nutrition. Every step of reproduction, from the production of sperm and maturation of eggs to the formation of healthy breast milk, is reliant upon an essential supply of vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids. However, nowadays an individual’s level of nutrition is often inadequate due to modern processing of foods, various lifestyle issues and environmental hazards. An example of this was demonstrated by a CSIRO study that found 67% of Australian women received less than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of zinc in their diets. Zinc is needed for more than 200 enzyme reactions in the body and is of fundamental importance for reproduction for both men and women.

The practitioner will access your individual situation, your history, lifestyle and occupational issues, your diet and overall health, and of course reproductive health. The practitioner may also suggest assessment by other health care practitioners eg. GP’s, chiropractors, osteopaths etc which supports the holistic approach.

A treatment plan is always devised specifically to suit the couple’s needs and may include any or all of the following:

• Screening for heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, cadmium, aluminium)

• Screening essential minerals (e.g. zinc, selenium, iron)

• Avoiding common environmental pollutants

• Avoiding common social ‘poisons’ (e.g. cigarettes, alcohol, drugs – prescribed or recreational, caffeine)

• Optimising overall health of body systems (e.g hormone balance, thyroid function, digestive/liver function)

• Salivary Hormone testing (male & female)

• Oestrogen Metabolite screening

• Functional thyroid testing

• Exercise

• Stress management techniques

• Naturopathic medicines to treat reproductive and fertility problems in both males and females

• Enhancing overall nutritional status

• Treatment of food, chemical and environmental allergies

• Screening and treatment of infections, especially genito-urinary infections

• Natural Fertility Management methods for contraception ie. Avoiding oral contraceptive pills, IUD’s, implants etc prior and during preconception period

“Kristin put us on the path to get our reproductive system in tiptop shape
for conception and our general health followed suit.” ~ Simone

How effective is Preconception Care?

The following statistics are an example of the effectiveness of preconception health care as practiced by Foresight - the Association for the Promotion of Preconceptual Care in the U.K.

Foresight, the Association for the Promotion of Preconceptual Care, was established in the United Kingdom in 1978. A Foresight study was conducted in conjunction with Surrey University over 3 years, between 1990-1993 (results published in the Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine 1995) clearly shows the effectiveness of preconception health care:

A 3-year study of 367 couples was completed in 1993. The women were aged between 22 and 45, the men between 25 and 59. Originally 59% of the couples had prior adverse reproductive history, including 38% experiencing (between 1 and 5) miscarriages, and 37% infertility (1-10 years). Other couples in the group had a history of stillbirths, malformations and low birth weight babies.

Many of the couples were older, coming to the trial as a ‘last resort.’ They were all asked to eliminate smoking and alcohol, and to follow a range of nutritional and lifestyle guidelines. Every individual was screened for infections, and prescribed a personalised range of supplements according to their needs.

Upon completion of the study in 1993, it was revealed that 327 (89%) of the women had become pregnant and 327 children had been born since enrolment. This also included 81% of those who were previously ‘infertile’. Out of those who had experienced a previous miscarriage, 83% had a baby within the three years of the study, without experiencing another miscarriage.

Of the 327 babies born, no baby was born before 36 weeks and none was lighter than 2.368kg (5lb. 2oz) with the average weight being 3.265kg (2.368kg – 4.145kg). There were no miscarriages, no perinatal deaths or malformations. No baby was admitted to the special care unit. With an average of 1 in 4 pregnancies ending in miscarriage, we would normally expect to see approximately 70-80 miscarriages and 12 malformations in a group of this size.

A number of the couples had already tried IVF without success. Yet 65% per cent of this group conceived naturally on the Foresight program without needing another IVF cycle.

www.foresight-preconception.org.uk/study_preconcareandoutcome.htm

In addition to the guidelines developed by Foresight, couples are taught the Natural Fertility Management timing techniques and a personalised program of herbal and nutritional support is devised. Whether you wish to conceive naturally or through the help of IVF technologies, your practitioner can provide naturopathic support and treatment for your well-being. This support often increases chances of IVF success dramatically.

“A friend recommended Kristin to me, as I wanted to find out as much as I could about a preconception plan. During my initial consultation I was impressed with Kristin’s commitment and professionalism and found her extremely helpful. She is an effective communicator, very personable, and provided me with a great deal of information and put the wheels in motion to get my health back on track.

The consultations were/are very thorough and she also showed that she actually cared about the situation I was in. She was/is very approachable and interested, and listens to my issues without judgement. I appreciate how the consultations are informative, helpful and matter of fact. I would always leave feeling empowered, in control and happy that I am working towards making my body the healthiest it can be. I feel so much healthier now and really feel as though I have the right information to help myself in the future.

The treatment plan has been extremely successful. Ailments that I have been suffering from for years are a thing of the past. The 4-month preconception plan and monitoring of ovulation was very insightful and my husband and I conceived in our first month of trying, which I partly attribute to Kristin!

She has made herself available outside working hours should there be a problem and we are in fairly regular contact regarding my progress. Kristin is very knowledgeable, confident and patient and has offered me some great advice, feedback and support. I look forward to her continued support throughout my pregnancy and attending her Active Birth Workshop.

I recommended my husband see Kristin and now he can’t rave enough about her. I have also recommended her to work colleagues and women thinking about beginning a conception/pregnancy plan. Thanks for everything!”

Rachel Russell, Karratha, WA
Sept 2007
Baby Jarvis, 17/03/08, 7lb4oz

“A friend suggested I go see Kristin as we had been trying to conceive for just under 8 months and during that time I had had 2 early miscarriages. Kristin taught me the natural fertility techniques of charting my temperatures and we discovered I had problems with my ovulation. Kristin put my partner and I on a thorough preconception care program, which we followed very well for the minimum of 4 months. We stopped trying for a baby (used protection), as I didn’t want to go through the experience of miscarrying again. We conceived on our first attempt during the 5th month of the program, and I am now 6 months pregnant and have had a great pregnancy so far. It just proved to us that my body needed support to have a baby and I’m so happy we treated the issues the ‘natural’ way. Thanks Kristin.”

A.P, Karratha WA
August 2007

”We had been through 3 IVF attempts about 12 months before we first saw Kristin. As we were close to our 40’s we were anxious to fall pregnant especially after the unsuccessful IVF experiences. We liked Kristin’s common-sense approach to our issues and the information we gained from the appointments. We learnt that it wasn’t just about making a baby but preparing our bodies to do so, and Kristin’s “seed & soil” analogy made a lot of sense to us.

I found her very understanding of our situation and creating the short and long-term goals made a lot of sense. We were tested for zinc levels, heavy metals, hormone health, and I charted my monthly cycles. The results showed we both needed support to make a healthy baby and why the IVF wasn’t successful.

Kristin helped me with my stress levels, my hormones and my digestion. My husband also took supplements for detoxing his body and improving his sperm quality. Although impatient at times, we committed to the program and in hindsight we both thought it made more sense than the IVF programs did. 10 months later we successfully conceived our daughter and I had a healthy and stress-free pregnancy. Our baby is now 13 months old and we are keen to begin trying for a second. Thank you for all your support (and patience) Kristin.”

Angela & Peter, Karratha WA
Baby Caitlin, 2006

“I went to see Kristin for preconception care for partner and myself. As Kristin specialises in fertility so I knew I had found the right practitioner. I found Kristin interesting to speak to with great knowledge of natural health. She put us on the path to get our reproductive system in tiptop shape for conception and our general health followed suit. I enjoyed taking the various prescribed supplements knowing they were nourishing my body therefore my future baby. My partner needed lots of reminding though, as most men do with those sorts of things! We were so happy with the result. I fell pregnant straight away within our desired time frame. Now we have a healthy 4-month-old baby boy.

I felt very confident with Kristin’s advice and knowledge as she not only extensively studied fertility and active birthing, but is also a passionate mother and doula. We also attended Kristin’s great active birth workshop, which was fun and informative, and what every woman should know about giving birth naturally. A great empowering tool! I have also recommended Kristin to a few of my work colleagues.”

Simone Farrar, Wickham, WA
Baby Finnlay, March 2007

“My husband and I went to see Kristin 6 months ago for a check-up before we started to try for a baby as I wanted to make sure we were as healthy as we could be. We came away with a lot of helpful, practical and insightful information about diet and the environmental affects on female and male fertility.

Due to my husband’s job, Kristin suggested a hair analysis to look for heavy metals that may be harming his sperm. I’m glad we did as he had high levels of lead, copper and cadmium in his body. I also had allergies that Kristin suggested I try to improve as these can be passed onto our baby. We took various supplements to detox our bodies and 4 months later the hair analysis report had improved greatly. We felt happy to make all the changes to our diet and enjoyed the results we got for our efforts. We both thought Kristin’s knowledge and guidance was fantastic and appreciated the educational aspects to the visits. We are confident now we will conceive a healthy child very soon. Thank you Kristin.”

Bec & Paul, Karratha, WA
March 2007

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