It is an opportunity for you and your partner to improve your health and correct any nutritional deficiencies in the 3-4 months before trying for a baby. Many studies recognise that nutritional deficiencies, illness, toxin expose and other factors influence the health of the egg and sperm.
By taking action now before pregnancy, you can prevent many future problems for yourself, your ability to conceive, your growing foetus and eventually your child. You may be thinking, 'my diet is pretty good, I exercise, I don't smoke, what more can I do to improve my health, and why would this benefit me?' But with fertility issues affecting 1 in 6 couples (according to The Fertility Society of Australia), preconception care should not just be considered as a last resort when months of trying to conceive are unsuccessful.
While a woman is born with all her eggs, it is the 100 days during the maturation process of the oocyte (immature egg) that has a significant impact on the success of conception and the health of the foetus and baby.
The male, on the other hand, must wait approximately 74 days for spermatogenesis (production of mature sperm). It's essential to recognise that fertility is something to work on together with your partner.
Remember it is both of you each providing half the genetic information and nutrients to produce a healthy baby. The male's health in the 2-3 months before conception is just as significant as the female's to ensure the best information is passed on through his sperm.
References
Allen L. (2000). Anemia and iron deficiency: effects on pregnancy outcome. Am J Clin Nutr. 75(9):1280-1284. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/5/1280s.full.pdf+html
Dissanayake D et al. (2010). Relationship between seminal plasma zinc and semen quality in a subfertile population. J Hum Reprod Sci. 3(3): 124–128. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017327/
Ebisch I et al. (2007). The importance of folate, zinc and antioxidants in the pathogenesis and prevention of subfertility. Human Reproduction Update. 13(2):163–174.
http://www.foresight-preconception.org.uk/
Glinoer D. (1997). Maternal and fetal impact of chronic iodine deficiency. Clin Ob & Gynecol. 40(1):102-116.
Mazza D, Chapman A. (2010). Improving the uptake of preconception care and periconceptional folate supplementation: what do women think? BMC Public Health. 10 (786):1-6. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-10-786
Pludowski P et al. (2013). Vitamin D effects on musculoskeletal health, immunity, autoimmunity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, fertility, pregnancy, dementia and mortality – A review of recent evidence. Autoimmunity Reviews. 12(10):976-989.
Sharpe R. (2010). Environmental/lifestyle effects on spermatogenesis. Phil Trans R Soc. 365:1697-1712. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royptb/365/1546/1697.full.pdf
The Fertility Society of Australia. 2016. http://www.fertilitysociety.com.au/