

How you fuel your body
It is recommended that you limit:








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Stop smoking
Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to a number of serious health problems for you and your baby, including:
- miscarriage
- ectopic pregnancy
- premature labour and birth
- stillbirth
Smoking also hugely increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) after your baby is born. SIDS is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby. If you smoke, it may also affect the time it takes to conceive. Research tells us the more you smoke, the longer it may take you to get pregnant. Even people who smoke between 5 and 9 cigarettes a day could experience long term problems in becoming pregnant.
Smoking also affects a man’s ability to get a woman pregnant.
Stopping smoking can reverse some of this damage. Quitting can:
- improve sperm count and quality
- reduce the risk of impotence (the inability to get and maintain an erection) over time
Male smoking can also reduce the chances of fertility treatments such as IVF working.

Stop drinking alcohol
It is recommended that you don’t drink any alcohol if you are trying to get pregnant.
Drinking alcohol whilst pregnant has a serious effect on the development of your baby and in the early days of pregnancy you may not know you are pregnant. Therefore, the safest thing to do is not drink any alcohol while you are trying for a baby.
Research shows us it may be more difficult for you to get pregnant if you or your partner drink heavily.
For women, heavy drinking may cause period problems, messing up your cycle and making your periods heavy, irregular or even stop. This makes getting pregnant difficult because you may not ovulate regularly.
Heavy drinking means regularly drinking more than 14 units a week. Find more information on alcohol units.
Alcohol and men’s fertility
In men, drinking too much alcohol can cause:
- loss of interest in sex
- problems with having an erection
- less testosterone (a hormone that is important for conception)
- problems with the number of sperm
- problems with the quality of sperm
- Stopping or cutting right back on alcohol can improve your fertility and overall health.
Here are some other links you may find useful

Illegal and recreational drugs
Male fertility
In men, cannabis can cause:
- low testosterone levels
- problems with the quality of sperm
Using cocaine can cause:
- lack of enjoyment of sex
- difficulty having erections
- low sperm levels
Some people may be able to stop taking drugs without any help or support. However, others may find it more of a challenge, perhaps because of other problems such as mental health issues or lack of support from family and friends.
It is important that you get the support you need if you are finding it a challenge to stop taking illegal drugs and you are thinking about trying for a baby. If you are having sex. it is best to keep using contraception until you have managed to stop using drugs. Your GP can offer you advice about this if you need it.
Moving your body
Being active and keeping a healthy weight is essential in getting your body ready to grow a baby. Research shows us that around 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise – , strength training, stretching or anything that gets your heart going – , releases feel-good endorphins which can help keep you relaxed and improve your mental wellbeing. Maintaining a healthy weight also has a huge impact on successfully becoming pregnant and continues to benefit both you and your baby throughout pregnancy.
The health of both parents not only plays a big role in successful conception but also in helping the baby have the best start in the early days of pregnancy and beyond. Lifestyle choices we make before a baby has even been born, have lifelong impacts on their quality of life.
We know that nutritional choices and the way we choose to fuel our body are really important in a baby’s development. At around week 6 of pregnancy, the organs of a foetus begin to take shape. Unfortunately this is the time when many women have only just realised they’re pregnant. This ‘window of opportunity’ may then be missed unless good nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits have been established beforehand.
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Vitamins and supplements

Folic Acid
It’s recommended that you should take a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid when trying to become pregnant and continue up until 12 weeks of pregnancy. Folic acid reduces the risk of your baby having a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida. A neural tube defect is when the foetus’s spinal cord (part of the body’s nervous system) does not form normally.
You might be advised to take a higher dose supplement of 5 milligram (5mg) of folic acid every day if:
- you or the baby’s other biological parent have a neural tube defect
- you previously had a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect
- you or the baby’s other biological parent have a family history of neural tube defects
- you have diabetes
- you take certain medicines, such as anti-epilepsy medicine or anti-retroviral medicine for HIV.
Talk to your GP if you think you may need a 5mg dose of folic acid, as they can prescribe a higher dose. Alternatively, you can buy folic acid tablets at pharmacies. If you are entitled to free prescriptions, talk to a GP about getting a prescription.
Start taking folic acid supplements as soon as you find out you are pregnant until you’re past the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Vitamin D
We all need vitamin D. But it’s especially important during pregnancy as it supports the development of your baby’s bones, teeth, kidneys, heart and nervous system. Vitamin D is often a challenge to get from food alone meaning that many people are often deficient. It is mostly made by our bodies from sunlight on our skin during April to September. However, the opportunity for sufficient vitamin D intake may not be enough to last all year, depending on where you live.
Taking a vitamin D supplement during pregnancy lowers the risk of your baby having soft bones. This can lead to a condition called rickets, a disease that affects bone development in children.
How much vitamin D should I take in pregnancy?
Taking a 10 microgram (or 400 IU) vitamin D supplement every day will provide you and your baby with enough vitamin D to stay healthy and well. If you choose to breastfeed, you should continue with a supplement, and it is also recommended that your baby have vitamin D drops, which can be given to them in liquid form.





Your GP and midwife can advise you on the best dosage if you are unsure. If you are eligible for the Healthy Start food scheme, you are entitled to free vitamin D and folic acid supplements during pregnancy. Otherwise, vitamin D supplements are available cheaply at pharmacies or supermarkets.
Useful links:
- Being healthy during pregnancy
- Take a folic acid supplement

Emotional wellbeing
Feeling good emotionally is important too. Managing all the normal daily stresses alongside the strong desire to have a baby can make some people feel pressure and worry which can lead to anxiety. Unfortunately, stress has a direct link to pregnancy. Stress can delay ovulation and can sometimes prevent you from getting pregnant.
Finding ways to manage your stress regularly will help you feel more relaxed and improve your mental wellbeing, all of which are factors that influence your chances of becoming pregnant. Seeking help for any existing worries, such as finance, housing, or relationships, can help relieve anxieties and stress. If you have a mental health condition and is taking medication, they should talk to their GP to make sure it’s safe to take during pregnancy.
The pregnancy and post-birth wellbeing plan
Tommy’s pregnancy and post birth plan helps you start thinking about how you feel and what support you might need in your pregnancy and after the birth.

Pre existing health conditions

Mental health conditions

Mental health medications and getting pregnant
Your doctor will discuss:
- whether your medicine might affect your fertility.
- how pregnancy and birth might affect you.
- how your treatment can be made as safe as it can be during pregnancy.
Finding out how pregnancy may affect your mental health can help you feel more prepared and in control. This includes knowing how the medicines used to treat mental health problems may affect you and your baby.
Pregnancy, giving birth and caring for a baby can affect people with mental health problems in different ways. Your symptoms could come back or get worse during pregnancy or in the weeks after birth.
This can sometimes happen soon after childbirth and can quickly become more serious. However, with the right support and treatment before you get pregnant, as well as during pregnancy, the risk of this will be much less.
You may be referred to a specialist perinatal mental health service if there is one near you. These are community-based teams of mental health professionals who care for pregnant women and women after childbirth with mental health problems, as well as their families.
They may offer you pre-conception counselling, which is a chance to ask questions about how your mental illness may affect a future pregnancy and your chances of getting pregnant. They will help you make informed choices about your planned pregnancy.
If you are referred for specialist support before pregnancy, you should keep using contraception and any other medicine until you have had an assessment.
Find out more about mental health conditions and how they are managed in pregnancy.
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Being up to date with vaccinations
Ensuring you are up to date with vaccinations is important if you are trying to get pregnant. You should contact your GP surgery for advice. Some vaccinations may need to be given before trying to get pregnant because they use a live virus that might not be safe for the baby.
Vaccinations protect you and your baby from infections that could cause serious harm. If you have not had 2 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, or you are unsure whether you have or not, ask your GP surgery to check your medical records.
You should avoid getting pregnant for 1 month after having the MMR vaccination, so ensure you are using reliable contraception if you are having sex.