When to Try to Get Pregnant

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Dr. Mieke Lane with Cascadia Women's Clinic in Vancouver, Washington. I'm an OB-GYN. Today, I'm going to talk to you regarding on when is the best time to become pregnant. The best time to actually speak to your physician regarding pregnancy is prior to you becoming pregnant. This is called our preconception counseling visit. At that time, your physician is going to be talking to you regarding your family history, your medical history, and also any medications that you may be taking. It's really important that any preexisting diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure are under good control prior to pregnancy. Another thing that your health care provider will be talking to you about is your family history. There are some diseases like sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, or even Tay-Sachs disease that could potentially impact the life of your baby. There's some blood work, too, that your health care provider is going to want to order. And that includes your HIV status, your hepatitis B status. Two blood work that is usually recommended to have done is your rubella status or even your varicella status. And varicella is another word for chicken pox, which most of us would have had chicken pox growing up. However, we need to confirm that when you're pregnant. If your rubella status or your varicella status are non-immune, then what we need to do is to give you a vaccination in order to improve your status. There's another titer that can be ordered, and that's called toxoplasmosis. And that's important if you have cats living in your house. And with toxoplasmosis, that could potentially impact your baby. So it's important to know your status regarding that. If you're contemplating pregnancy, you need to be sure that you're taking your prenatal vitamin, which includes folic acid. And that needs to have at least .4 milligrams a day in order to help prevent spina bifida or any spinal column defects in your baby. You need to be eating a well-balanced diet and also getting exercise. And it's recommended to have at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week for the proper amount of exercise. Lastly, you need to be keeping track of your menstrual cycle. Most women will ovulate on day 14 out of a normal 28-day cycle. And that will increase your chances of becoming pregnant and will also let you know when is the best time to have sex in order to increase your chances of becoming pregnant. At your local pharmacy, there are ovulation predictor kits that are available that you can purchase in order to verify whether or not you're ovulating. And if you have any further questions or concerns regarding this topic, please contact your health care provider."