No amount of preparation can truly prepare you for the maiden to mother journey that unfolds in the sacred postpartum time. 

One moment, you’re a single entity, a human being with a life story of your own, who just happens to be ripe with child. And the next - you’re a mother, a parent embodied, and half of your heart is now living outside of your body. 

Food as the medicine takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to supporting fertility and reproductive health.

Once an overlooked and underestimated factor in fertility and pregnancy outcomes, the importance of nutrition to preconception preparation is only just being realised.

Esteemed medical journal The Lancet is one of many peer-reviewed publications to publish studies in recent years promoting the evidence-based benefits of optimal nutrition in the months, or even years, leading up to pregnancy.

With one in six Australian couples experiencing fertility troubles, it is more important than ever to highlight the significance of nutrition and its ability to influence fertility, pregnancy outcomes and foetal gene expression.

When I mention this to clients, they rush to ask me what they should be eating. And while no single food can guarantee a healthy pregnancy, a combination of nutrient-rich wholefoods, nutritional supplements, gut health support and lifestyle changes may go a long way to improve both maternal and paternal fertility, creating a harmonious environment for a growing baby.

I find women are generally more open to making dietary changes in preparation for pregnancy, with men often thinking they’re off the hook. But studies have found children may have a higher risk of metabolic disease and Type 2 diabetes if their father ate a poor diet prior to conception, while paternal exposure to certain chemicals like paint and pesticides is associated with a higher risk of cancer and genital malformations.

Anyone who has experienced nausea and vomiting in pregnancy can attest to the misleading nature of the title ‘morning sickness’.

For many, morning sickness can last all day, often for most of the first trimester, and sometimes beyond.

For some, it doesn’t end until the baby and placenta are born.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum affects one to two per cent of pregnant people, causing debilitating nausea and vomiting for most if not all of pregnancy.

It is diagnosed when nausea and vomiting of pregnancy are extremely severe (up to 50 times a day in some cases), persists past the first trimester, or results in a weight loss of at least five percent of pre-pregnancy weight.

The condition is serious and can lead to dehydration and malnutrition of both mother and baby, as well as increased risk of weight loss and preeclampsia. Half of all mothers with Hyperemesis Gravidarum may also develop depression or anxiety.

With so much conflicting information, it can be confusing to find the best foods for your breastfeeding journey. If I asked a room full of breastfeeding mothers which foods trigger tummy troubles for their babies, I’d be left with an overwhelming list of foods to avoid.  And for every list of foods claiming to increase breast milk, is another list contradicting everything on the one before it.

Although all prenatal testing and screening is optional, a large majority of pregnant people in Australia will undergo the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy.