How to Prepare for Pregnancy (Without Falling Down the Fertility Rabbit Hole)
If you're planning to try for a baby in the next few months, can I let you in on a little secret?
Nobody teaches us how to prepare for pregnancy.
Seriously.
At school we were taught how NOT to get pregnant.
As adults we're told to take folic acid and have sex.
Then one day we decide we'd quite like a baby ... and suddenly we're expected to figure the rest out ourselves.
So we do what everyone does.
We Google.
We open Instagram.
We listen to podcasts.
We save 47 fertility posts we'll never look at again.
And before long we're wondering whether we should give up gluten, buy CoQ10, start seed cycling, book acupuncture, drink bone broth, track our temperature, avoid coffee, test our hormones, meditate twice a day and somehow not get stressed about any of it.
It's exhausting, right?
Not because there's no information but because there's far too much of it!
The fertility rabbit hole is expensive
Not just financially but mentally AND emotionally.
One Instagram post tells you to buy a supplement.
Another tells you it's a waste of money.
Someone on TikTok says you need to heal your nervous system.
Google says you need an AMH test.
Your friend says, ‘Just relax’.
And before you've even started trying, you've spent hundreds of pounds and you've got absolutely no idea whether any of it actually applies to you personally.
And that is a big problem i see with clients i work with because most of them didn't need more fertility information, they needed help making sense of it.
Fertility preparation isn't about doing everything …
This is probably the biggest misconception I see.
Preparation isn't about becoming the healthiest, most perfect person on planet Earth.
It's not about buying every supplement.
It's not about cutting out every food you enjoy.
It's definitely not about spending hundreds of pounds because someone on Instagram promised to ‘call in your baby’.
Preparation is much simpler than that.
It's about understanding where you personally are starting from.
Because you can't make good decisions without knowing your baseline.
So what should you actually do?
If someone was on a call with me or sat in my studio and said,
‘We'd like to start trying in a few months. Where do we begin?’
This is roughly where i'd start.
1. LEARN YOUR CYCLE
Do you know roughly when you ovulate?
How long your luteal phase is?
Whether you're actually seeing signs of ovulation?
You don't need to become obsessed with tracking but understanding your cycle gives you information that guessing never will.
2. INCLUDE SPERM FROM THE VERY START
This one deserves its own section because somehow fertility has become a women's solo project.
It IS NOT. I repeat, it IS NOT a solo project.
Sperm contributes to around half of fertility problems.
Which makes it slightly wild that many women spend months changing everything about themselves while nobody has even looked at sperm … WTF!
If two people are trying for a baby ... two people are part of the preparation.
3. CHECK THE BASICS
This doesn't mean ordering every fertility test available online.
It means making sure the foundations are covered.
Depending on your circumstances, this might include reviewing hormone blood tests, understanding thyroid health, checking vitamin D, making sure ovulation is actually happening and reviewing a semen analysis.
Preparation isn't about doing every test.
It's about doing the right tests that are specific to you.
4. DON’T CONFUSE SUPPLEMENTS WITH A STRATEGY
I have absolutely nothing against supplements.
A good quality pre natal supplement is great.
But supplements without a reason quickly become expensive guesswork.
Before spending hundreds of pounds, ask yourself this:
‘What problem am I actually trying to solve and how do i know this problem exists?’
If you don't know the answer ...
I'd save your money for now.
5. LOOK AT THE BORING STUFF
I know. Everyone wants the magic fertility hack.
Unfortunately, your body is often much more interested in the boring basics.
Sleep.
Nutrition.
Movement.
Alcohol.
Stress.
Not because you need to be perfect but because these are things that influence your general health, which is exactly what you're asking your body to start building a pregnancy from.
Preparation is about knowing what matters
One of the biggest myths in fertility is that doing more is always better.
It isn't.
Sometimes doing more just creates more confusion.
Real preparation is knowing:
What's worth checking.
What's worth spending money on.
What can wait.
What's actually relevant to your situation.
What you can stop worrying about.
And where to start
That's the difference between collecting fertility information … and having a bespoke fertility roadmap.
Stop spending money on guesswork
If you're going to invest in your fertility, invest in understanding it.
Not because you need to prepare perfectly or because that means something must be wrong.
But because going into one of the biggest chapters of your life with a plan makes a lot more sense than hoping Instagram's algorithm happens to show you the right advice.
We don't wing it
At Prep & Poke, that's the whole philosophy.
Whether you see me online or in person …
We don't wing it. We prepare for it.
Not by doing everything, not by panicking or by falling down another fertility rabbit hole.
By helping you understand what actually matters for YOU.
Because fertility preparation isn't about becoming an expert.
It's about finally understanding your fertility and having a plan.