Tommy's pregnancy and baby charity has launched a free digital tool to help you ensure that you are fit and well when you become pregnant, giving your baby the best start.

• Planning for Pregnancy tool - Tommy's

By following the advice from Tommy's and the information below, you can:

• improve your fertility (the ability to get pregnant)
• protect your baby's future health
• reduce your risk of problems in pregnancy

When you are trying for a baby (have stopped contraception), you won't know you're pregnant for the first few weeks after conception takes place.

Making changes to your lifestyle before pregnancy will help you to have a healthier pregnancy overall, and improved health and development for your baby.

Nutrition

If you’re planning to get pregnant, eating a healthy, balanced diet will help you stay well throughout pregnancy, and get most of the vitamins and minerals you need. 

Tommy’s have created a guide to a pre-pregnancy healthy diet:

• Fertility Diet: Nutrition When Trying to Conceive | Tommy's
• Does Caffeine Effect Fertility/Conception? | Tommy's

If you are vegan, talk to your pharmacist to make sure that you are getting enough nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Find out more about vegetarian, vegan and special diets in pregnancy.

Pre-pregnancy vitamins

Folic acid and vitamin D are recommended when trying to get pregnant and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy to improve you and your baby’s health and help prevent pregnancy complications. 

You can get supplements from pharmacies and supermarkets, or your GP may be able to prescribe them for you.

If you want to get your vitamin D or folic acid from a multivitamin tablet, make sure the tablet does not contain vitamin A (or retinol).

Find out more:

• Benefits of taking Folic Acid and Vitamin D When Trying to Get Pregnant

You can get vitamin supplements containing folic acid and vitamin D free of charge if you're under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding and qualify for the Healthy Start scheme.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is essential for keeping your sperm in good condition.

Try to:

• eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day  
• base meals on higher fibre starchy foods like potatoes, bread, rice or pasta
• include some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks and yoghurts)
• eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein

One research study has found that eating 75g of walnuts a day for 12 weeks can improve sperm mobility (the ability to swim).

There are no official recommendations for men to take any pre-conception vitamins or supplements.

Find out more here:

•  How to improve male fertility

Staying active can improve your fertility and help you get pregnant. Women and birthing people who do regular, moderate exercise get pregnant quicker than those who do not exercise regularly.

Moderate activity means any exercise that will:

• raise your heart rate
• make you breathe faster
• make you feel warmer

You should still be able to talk, but not sing when doing moderate activity. Examples, include brisk walking or riding a bike.

Find out more:

• Exercising and Being Active When Trying to conceive

The ideal body mass index (BMI) for getting pregnant is between 18.5 and 24.9. This is known as the healthy range. Having a high BMI or a low BMI can reduce your chances of getting pregnant.

Find out more here:

• Overweight and Fertility When Trying to Get Pregnant
• Underweight & Fertility When Trying to Get Pregnant
   

Smoking

If you are trying for a baby, quitting smoking is the best thing you can do.  

Stopping smoking can help improve your chances of getting pregnant. It will also dramatically reduce your risk of pregnancy complications such as:

• miscarriage
• ectopic pregnancy
• premature labour and birth
• stillbirth

Smoking also increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) after your baby is born. SIDS is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby.

Find services and support on our stop smoking support webpage

Alcohol

The Chief Medical Officers for the UK recommend that you don’t drink any alcohol if you are trying to get pregnant (conceive).

There is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol to drink when you are pregnant. Because you may not know you are pregnant for the first few weeks after conceiving, the safest thing to do is not drink any alcohol while you are trying for a baby. 

Find services and support on our alcohol use webpage

Drugs

Using illegal or street drugs can reduce your ability to get pregnant and during pregnancy drugs including cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, can have a potentially serious effect on your unborn baby.

For advice, see:

• Drug use
• Drugs and Alcohol When Trying to Conceive | Tommy's

The number of LGBT+ families is growing, and the following link will help to guide you through the various options you may have for starting a family including, surrogacy, adoption and fostering and donor insemination.

You may also speak to you GP about the options available.

For more information, visit:

• Having a baby if you are LGBT+ - NHS

If you are concerned about your fertility you should contact your GP for support and advice. You can also visit the NHS website for further information.

Find out more here:

• Infertility - NHS