Nutrition, exercise, mental prep, supplements, and guidance turn out to be the main five categories.

1. NUTRITION
2. EXERCISE
3. MENTAL PREP
4. SUPPLEMENTS
5. GUIDANCE

NUTRITION

The very first step in signaling to my body that it’s safe to carry a pregnancy is to EAT ENOUGH.

It has taken me decades to recover from DIET CULTURE (reading Intuitive Eating helped a lot).

Only once I started eating enough to be satisfied did I stop craving foods that were destructive.

When I finally felt like I could choose which foods I would have in my home, rather than falling “victim” to insatiable desires and seeming lack of willpower, I realized that I had almost no idea where to start.

Beginning midwifery training gave me the guidance I needed to evaluate my diet. Finally, I understood what roles different nutrients played in the development of my body and the baby’s body.

I won’t break it all down here, but I will transcribe the “rules” I now follow to ensure that I am nourished enough to sustain a healthy pregnancy.

First rule, again: EAT ENOUGH.

Within that, there are some crucial guidelines for fetal development:

• Focus on PROTEIN at every meal.
  • Bone broth
  • Eggs (every day for choline!)
  • Organ meat (liver at least once a week)
  • Yogurt (Greek)
  • Cottage cheese
  • Hard cheeses
  • Sardines
  • Salmon (ideally farmed, but I love the Costco frozen patties)
  • Tilapia
  • Chicken thighs
  • Whole chicken (rotisserie or home-baked)
  • Ground beef
  • Steak
  • Protein shakes

• Allow FATS to fill me up.
  • Avocado
  • Peanut butter
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Tahini as dip or in salads
  • Full-fat dairy, including milk

• Balance with GREENS for fiber and vitamins.
  • Collards
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Broccoli

• Eat the RAINBOW for micronutrients and variety.
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Beets
  • Purple potatoes
  • Bell peppers
  • Carrots
  • Radishes
  • Fruits!

• Source only ORGANIC and preferably LOCAL foods.
  • CSA boxes
  • Farmers market
  • Local grocery store
  • Online services like Wild Idea Buffalo (no affiliation, just admiration)
  • Costco’s organic products

Read more on nutrition in SUPPLEMENTS below.

EXERCISE

Training for pregnancy and birth is the equivalent to training for a 50-MILE HIKE.

Animals give birth easily in the wild, but they are constantly moving in their daily lives.

Movement is time-consuming. I’ve been researching the programs and protocols for prenatal exercise out there, aside from my own prenatal yoga training. So far I’ve been won over by Birthfit‘s recommendations for an ideal week in pregnancy (no affiliation, just admiration):

• Move Daily
• 10 Squats per Day
• 4 to 10 Reps BIRTHFIT Basics per Day
• 2 to 20 minutes Breath Work per Day (Try Nasal Breathing for 2 minutes)
• 1 to 3 miles of Walking per Day (throughout day)
• 20 minutes of Lunges per Week (chill, conversational pace)
• 2x per Week General Strength and Conditioning
• 2x per Week Medium to Heavy Load
• 2x per Week Medium to High Volume
• 1x per Week Longer Aerobic Conditioning

That said, I have been trained in powerlifting and have a squat rack and bench in my living room. With no desire to go to the gym, you can definitely get away with “heavy load / high volume” workouts using just your body weight and free videos.

Here is a MINIMUM-INVESTMENT version:

• Walking every day enough to SWEAT (1-5 miles)
• Strength training 3x/week (pilates, Fitness Blender videos)

MOTIVATION, THOUGH.

When it’s up to just me, I can procrastinate a pilates session all week. Hence, the value of a temporary investment in a community for the sake of my prenatal fitness.

The top three programs I would personally invest in (again, no affiliation):

• Birthfit
• Body Ready Method
• Restore Your Core

YOGA?

Yes, I am a trained prenatal yoga teacher through Khalsa Way. I do believe that prenatal yoga is one of the best things you can do to prepare for birth.

That said, the “BIRTHFIT Basics” above cover a lot of yoga ground! Prenatal yoga is about strengthening and mobilizing the entire body, and about connecting to the being growing inside. It’s about getting comfortable with discomfort and realizing that you can do hard things.

Yoga might be the way for you to do that. It might also not be something that you’re into. That’s okay.

Aside from some basic movements, “Keep-Up” meditations (doing hard things for three minutes), and meditations focusing on connecting with baby, Khalsa Way also recommends walking 5 miles a day.

I absolutely believe that walking five miles in nature per day will help me in labor. However, I am finding that with all the other cooking, exercising, resting, and reading I’m doing—I have a hard time taking five miles out of my day. Sorry, nature.

So if any part of you wants to get to a prenatal yoga class—DO IT. It will be worth it. If any part of you wants to prioritize hiking as a daily practice—DO IT. If no part of you wants that—choose something else to get connected to your body and your future baby.

MENTAL PREP

I know that I have to actively combat cultural messages about birth.

I want to birth in a sacred, powerful, victorious way.

I want to be part of the very tiny portion of the human population in my neck of the woods who are taking birth into their own hands, not leaving it to the hands of a surgeon.

If I want to be ready to strike out on my own, I need a lot of mental backup to combat the naysayers in my head. I need to know that others are doing this too, and that we have the best information out there to back us up.

I intentionally fill my insatiable intake mechanisms with vetted information, not mindless scrolling.

Here are a couple of my favorite content sources:

• Podcasts: Orgasmic Birth, Birthful
• Audiobooks: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Real Food for Pregnancy
• Instagram: @badassmotherbirther, @builttobirth

SUPPLEMENTS

Even with a fantastic diet, I supplement to ensure vital nutrients aren’t falling through the cracks.

The reason this is a pre-conception post, and not just a prenatal post, is that my body’s state in the months leading up to conception determines the quality of my EGGS.

This makes the months leading up to the prenatal period just as crucial as the first months of pregnancy—neither of which is given much thought in PREDOMINANT MESSAGES about pregnancy. (Namely, that drinking alcohol before 6 weeks is fine, that you can carry on as normal whether or not you’re pregnant until you know you are, and that you don’t have to start thinking about having kids or how to parent until you’re actually pregnant.)

I am also using this period of time to PRACTICE the habits that I know will serve me in pregnancy and beyond. I am getting used to getting what I need, so that it’s not a scramble when I’ve got more going on internally.

Getting used to taking supplements is one of these big habits. As it is, I barely remember to take Vitamin D every day (a covid-era habit I picked up and sustain partly because… we just have way too much of it in the cupboard).

WHY SUPPLEMENT?

Although I know that much of my nutrition should come from food, I’m also aware that soil degradation and the limitations of my non-seasonal bulk shopping leaves something to be desired in my nutrients.

I also know that most supplements are completely misrepresented by their packaging. Almost no regular supplements in stores actually contain what their labels claim. Tragedy!

With the nudging of my biochemist partner to investigate third-party testing for any supplements we take, I have a big incentive to find a cover-all, complete supplement package rather than trying to piece together my own.

These are my top three recommended supplement packs:

• FullWell Fertility Trio for Two
• Needed Fertility Support Plan for Two
• Heart & Soil Vitality + Fertility Stack

I haven’t decided yet which one I’m actually going to go for. (I still need the biochemist’s approval!) Before the three-month pre-conception mark, I’ll need to sit him down and look at them in turn to decide.

WHAT ABOUT HIM?

Oh, right—these are all “for two” because, just like my egg health matters preconception, his sperm health matters too! Both of us are subject to endocrine disruptors and the negative effects of stress and nutritionally deficient food sources. I’m not about to do all this work and let him get by with no effort!

Once conception is complete, he can get back to non-supplement life if he wants. But all the lifestyle changes we’ve made to get to this point will continue to serve us both for the rest of our lives.

GUIDANCE

I am so proud to share this information and process with you. It is truly a culmination of two years of learning, and I hope that this can serve as a one-stop starter guide to help you prioritize for yourself.

I continue to seek guidance from professionals, through the resources listed in “MENTAL PREP,” acupuncturists who treat me at my local teaching clinic, midwives I trust on their online accounts, and my own body. (My body is definitely a professional!)

A huge part of the reason I have become a certified doula and midwifery student is to make sure that I have the very best information, not just the same regurgitated top search result for any given question.

It is my passion to bring my knowledge to other humans who want to do their best despite cultural messaging to throw it all away for capitalism.

I know it’s a lot, and I’m here to help if you are curious or overwhelmed.

Want to talk more? Book a free consultation below and we’ll tackle your specific circumstances, challenges, and goals.

Thanks for reading!

Anna