A Healing Preparation Guide to Preconception

During such a tender time as the years before conception, we can feel like we are wandering, not knowing where to start. While I am mainly focused on postpartum care, I do offer suggestions for mommas to prepare their bodies and minds before future births. I have found there is a thread through how you care for your body before conception, through pregnancy, birth, postpartum and beyond. These healing tips are never meant to be medical advice. I curated tips from some of my favorite articles and I hope you are able to read them and enjoy.

🪴Heal Mother Wounds:

healing emotional wounds before you enter the path of conception is essential. I would dare say is the most essential. Nourishing your heart and mind is a way to nuture you as you walk along your new path of motherhood.

Read more about healing mother wounds here. “The mother wound can also influence the way you feel about yourself and act in relationships, which you can identify by looking for the symptoms:

• Low self-esteem

• Difficulties understanding and managing your emotions

• Feeling the need to be perfect

• Relationship problems (including patterns of codependency and self-sabotage)

• Negative inner voice

• A deep-rooted fear of becoming like your mother”…there are so many more symptoms too. If you are struggling to find care in this area - I love working with this amazing PRACTITIONER for healing emotional wounds and moving forward.

🪴Nourish The Body with Warm Foods + Leafy Greens:

Folic acid, folate and calcium have been shown in studies to support conception. I prefer to receive these healing elements from foods, verses only supplements, such as leafy greens, beans and nuts.

Traditional Chinese Medicine encourages eating warm foods to support hormones regardless of the weather. I appreciate that there are so many ways to consume warming foods that either are physically warm or contain warming ingredients. These are a few I love:

Herbs

• basil

• chives

• coriander

• dill

• fennel

• parsley

• rosemary

Spices

• anise

• cumin

• cinnamon

• cloves

• ginger

• black pepper

Vegetables

Can be steamed or cooked and include plenty of:

• onion

• leeks

• parsnips

• spring onion

• garlic

Other

• Fruits are better dried or cooked

• Nuts

• Honey

• Oats

• Quinoa

• Seeds

• Wild rice

🪴Heal & Support The Liver:

Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Liver is responsible to ensure that Blood flows easily and smoothly throughout the body’s structures. But in order to support the liver, we need to focus on the main support system - the stomach. Support your gut with healing good bacteria, fiber, hydration and lowering stress has a direct effect on your liver.

Looking for ways to support your liver? Here are a few tips:

• “Enjoy Blood-building foods like red meat, bone broth, dark leafy greens, organ meats, beans and legumes.

• cONSUME NUTRIENT DENSE HEALING FOODS LIKE He Shou Wu, Jujube dates, Goji berries, and Prepared Rehmannia.

• Unresolved emotions like sadness, anger, and grief can consume Liver Blood directly, so it’s important to make time for their expression.

• Ensure adequate rest

• Tonify the Liver and optimize its function with herbs like Chaga, Deer Antler Velvet, Eucommia Bark, He Shou Wu, and Rose.

• Nourish Yin and prevent burnout by minimizing the consumption of stimulants like caffeine.”

🪴v. Steam 1x week:

“steaming uses the support of medicinal plants to break up tissue residue so that it can be easily flushed out of our body with our next cycle. When we steam the herbs in a pot of water, the volatile oils of the plants are released into the water and carried up through the steam into our uterus where they can do their healing work… Our blood can then be empowered to move through stagnant areas and clear out tissue residue within our uterus to create a healthy environment for a baby to grow and be nourished.”

Looking for fertility supportive herbs? - I love this article for all the amazing tips - here are some suggestions for herbs below accordingly to this article

Red Clover

This nourishing, blood purifying herb is rich in minerals and improves genital blood circulation, which is essential for reproductive function. Red clover aids our bodies in detoxing from environmental pollutants and supports all stages of pregnancy, from conception to lactation.

Red Raspberry Leaf

Red raspberry leaf contains extremely high vitamin and mineral content, which boosts nutrition and increase chances of a healthy pregnancy. It also strengthens and tonifies the uterus to prepare for pregnancy. It may help prevent miscarriage due to uterine weakness. It supports recovery from fibroids, cysts, endometriosis and uterine prolapse for a healthy pregnancy.

Nettles 

Nettles provide hormone balance support, healthy iron levels and proper liver function. Nourishes and tones the uterus. They contain high amounts of chlorophyll, a natural detox, which prepares the body for pregnancy and sustaining an embryo once conceived.

Oat Straw 

Oat straw aids in stress reduction which is essential for wombyn who have been experiencing fertility issues and are circulating a toxic amount of cortisol and anxiety in their blood stream.

Chaste Tree Berry 

This extremely powerful herb nourishes the pituitary gland. It helps lengthen the luteal phase, which is the phase between your ovulation and menstrual cycle. This is the potent phase after our egg is released and conception is most likely to happen. It lowers prolactin and raises progesterone levels in the body.

Want to learn more?

Check out my v. steaming guide

🪴Understand Your Cycle without Birth Control: There are so many thoughts about birth control and if you are on it, how long to be off it before conceiving. I love this resource for all things preconception.

My biggest tip is to get support either through your doctor, midwife, ACUPUNCTURIST as you come off birth control. Give yourself time to understand where your hormones are at currently and what you can do to support them. Often times we panic when we experience pain during our cycles but this is how our body is sharing feedback - observe and listen. what does your body need? what are the IMBALANCES?

🪴Connect with The Earth:

Grounding, or earthing, connects our bodies to the earth’s electrical frequencies, promoting balance and well-being. - This article shares some tips that i love!

• Various grounding techniques and exercises can be practiced to improve our physical and mental health.

• Scientific studies show that grounding reduces inflammation, improves sleep quality, and helps regulate biological rhythms.

• Grounding products such as mats, sheets, and sandals can facilitate earthing when direct skin-to-earth contact is not possible.

• Incorporating grounding into our daily routines supports emotional well-being and fosters greater connection with nature.

🪴Check on Your Hormones + Thyroid:

aGAIN, I LOVE THIS RESOURCE AND I WOULD ALWAYS ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK IN WITH YOUR BODY TO KNOW WHERE YOUR HORMONES ARE IN THIS CURRENT STATE.

🪴Get 9-10 hours of sleep per night:

“Often referred to as the “sleep hormone,” melatonin plays a direct role in promoting quality sleep and regulating your circadian rhythm. However, there is growing evidence that melatonin also helps regulate reproductive hormones in women and influences their ovulation and menstrual cycles.

In fact, melatonin has been found to have a direct impact on ovarian function, plus measurable levels of the hormone have been identified in other reproductive organs and follicular fluid, emphasizing its role in reproductive function.” source

Here are four ways melatonin impacts sleep and fertility: 

1. Regulates Reproductive Hormones and Ovulation

2. Regulates the Menstrual Cycle

3. Combats Oxidative Stress

4. Relationship with Fertility Rates

5 Lifestyle Changes To Optimize Melatonin Levels for Sleep and Fertility

i hope these tips have been BENEFICIAL for you as you find healing along your motherhood journey. wishing you all the healing!