Things to consider before becoming pregnant ...

I often get asked by women that are just starting to try to conceive if they should be taking a prenatal vitamin. The answer is ABSOLUTELY! Any female of child bearing age should be aware of vitamin and mineral intake since crucial increases in your needs occur before you might even know you're pregnant! It's definitely a good idea to start a prenatal vitamin now.

Iron and folate become critically important during your fifth week of pregnancy (that's just 1 week after your missed period!) Folate, which is important for preventing defects of the brain and spinal cord, increases to a recommended intake of 600 micrograms per day. Iron becomes important because as your uterus expands, blood vessels are forming to nourish your baby. Iron is necessary in this process and daily needs increase to 27 micrograms per day while you're pregnant.

Before the positive pregnancy test, a regular prenatal vitamin is fine as long as it includes the right amounts of those two nutrients. Including 1000 mg of calcium is also beneficial - most women aren't getting enough calcium anyway, and building up your reserves prior to pregnancy will definitely give you an advantage.

If you want to to stick to the same vitamin before and during pregnancy, then you need to look past the first five weeks. DHA, and now new research for lutein, become important at week 6 when the baby's brain and eyes begin to develop. Prenatal vitamins with DHA and lutein usually require taking 2 pills and very few prenatal vitamins include lutein. Of course, it is always an option to find DHA and lutein separately in a different supplement to take in addition to your basic prenatal vitamin. If you choose not to take supplemental lutein, then it is extremely important to start adding some good sources of it into your diet, such as dark green veggies.

Beyond the prenatal vitamin, some things to consider before becoming pregnant ...

Make sure to achieve/maintain a healthy body weight and get into a regular exercise regimen. It's not recommended to start a new workout program after becoming pregnant, so it's important to have a routine established prior to conception... start now! There are so many benefits to staying active during pregnancy. Also, one of the main complaints during pregnancy is fatigue, so if caffeine is a main staple in your diet, start cutting back now. That way, you aren't dealing with caffeine withdrawal when you have to kick the habit for the baby on top of being tired in general from pregnancy! Cutting back on alcohol is a good idea at this point as well - a drink here and there is no biggie, but definitely try to keep it under 3 drinks if you're feeling social.

Take advantage of this time to get into the best shape of your life. If all goes as you're hoping, your body won't be the only one that depends on your health!