Preparing for Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Guide by Dr. Anthony Marren
Embarking on the journey to parenthood is an exciting time, and taking steps to prepare for pregnancy can enhance your chances of a healthy pregnancy and baby. Dr. Anthony Marren, a leading fertility specialist in Sydney, offers comprehensive guidance and support for those looking to start or expand their family. This page provides essential information on how to prepare your body and mind for pregnancy, ensuring you are as ready as possible for this incredible journey.
Understanding Preconception Health
Preconception health focuses on how health conditions and risk factors could affect a woman or her unborn baby if she becomes pregnant. For instance, some foods, habits, and medications can pose a risk to a developing baby, even before pregnancy is confirmed.
Steps to Take Before Pregnancy
- Schedule a Preconception Checkup: Meeting with Dr. Marren before you start trying can help identify any potential health issues and ensure you’re on the right track for a healthy pregnancy.
- Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle: Eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and avoiding harmful substances are crucial steps toward a healthy pregnancy.
- Understand Your Cycle and Fertility: Understanding when you’re most fertile can increase your chances of becoming pregnant.
- Consider Genetic Screening: Discuss if genetic screening is right for you and your partner, to understand any potential genetic risks.
Fertility Health Assessment
Next, we want to do a fertility health assessment. This is a great way to proactively care for your fertility and increase your chances of conception. You can book an appointment with me to get the ball rolling below. Based on your medical history and individual circumstances, I may recommend a series of tests.
For women, these tests may include:
- A routine set of antenatal blood tests. This includes your karyotype (chromosomes), blood group, full blood count, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and immunity to rubella (German measles) and varicella (chickenpox). It also screens for thalassemia and STIs including syphilis, HIV, Hepatitis B and C
- An AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) blood test to measure your ovarian reserve
- A pelvic ultrasound (days 5 – 10 of your cycle). For more complex cases, a patient may require a specialised pelvic ultrasound – such as a HyCoSy (used to examine the fallopian tubes and other pelvic organs) or a Sonohysterogram (a study of the uterus)
- An up-to-date cervical screening test
- Preconception genetic carrier screening
For men, these tests may include:
- A routine set of blood tests. This includes your karyotype (chromosomes) and blood test to screen for STIs including HIV, Hepatitis B and C
- A blood test to assess male hormones such as testosterone is sometimes required
- Preconception genetic carrier screening
- A semen analysis to check for sperm quality and possible infections. In the case of abnormal semen results – such as low sperm count, poor motility (movement) and poor morphology (shape) – some men will need to have two semen analyses completed
Preparing for Your Journey to Parenthood with Dr. Anthony Marren
Dr. Anthony Marren and his team are here to support you every step of the way, from preconception planning to achieving a healthy pregnancy. With our expertise and your dedication to preparing for pregnancy, we look forward to helping you achieve your dream of becoming a parent.
For more information or to schedule a preconception consultation, please contact us. Let’s take the first step together toward a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy baby.
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