✅ A Woman's Guide to Pre-Conception Health Checks
Hello, dear friends! The Wizey team here again.
Today, we have a topic that takes many people’s breath away—planning for a baby. You know, it’s like preparing for the most important journey of your life. You could, of course, leave spontaneously, but it’s much wiser to check the “technical condition” of your body beforehand to ensure the journey is smooth and the arrival at your destination is happy.
So, preparing for pregnancy is not a sprint, but rather a thoughtful preparation for a marathon. And it begins not with buying cute booties, but with a visit to the laboratory. Let’s, without panic and unnecessary fuss, figure out what “health inspection” a future mother should undergo to be fully prepared for pregnancy.
Step 1. The Foundation of Your Health: Basic Check-up
Imagine you are building a house. You wouldn’t start erecting walls without making sure the foundation is solid, right? It’s the same here. Before moving on to specific “pregnancy” tests, you need to assess the general state of your body.
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Complete Blood Count (CBC) with leukocyte formula and ESR. This is your health passport. It will show your hemoglobin level (are you at risk of anemia, which will only worsen during pregnancy?), the number of red blood cells, white blood cells (is there a hidden inflammation?), and platelets (is everything okay with blood clotting?). A simple but incredibly informative thing.
- Biochemical blood analysis. If the CBC is a passport, then “biochemistry” is a detailed questionnaire. We are primarily interested in:
- Glucose: To check for problems with carbohydrate metabolism and hidden risks of gestational diabetes.
- ALT, AST, bilirubin: Markers of your liver’s health. This organ works for two during pregnancy, and it’s important that it’s in excellent shape.
- Creatinine, urea: Indicators of kidney function, which will also face a serious load.
- Total protein: The “building material” for you and the future baby.
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Urinalysis (UA). Another way to check kidney function and detect asymptomatic urinary tract infections, which can become a problem during pregnancy.
- Blood type and Rh factor. This is sacred. You need to know both yours and the future father’s Rh factor. If the mother is Rh-negative and the father is Rh-positive, an Rh conflict can arise. This is not scary if you know about it in advance! Modern medicine knows how to handle this perfectly, the main thing is to be aware.
Receiving a stack of forms with dozens of indicators can be overwhelming. What do all these “eosinophils” and “aspartate aminotransferases” mean? This is where our Wizey service comes in handy. It won’t give you a diagnosis over the internet (that’s a doctor’s job!), but it will help structure the information, highlight deviations from the norm, and tell you what to pay attention to at your gynecologist’s appointment. This is a great way to prepare for the visit and speak the same language as your doctor.
Step 2. Checking for “Uninvited Guests”: Infections
Pregnancy is a state of physiological immunodeficiency. The body deliberately reduces the activity of the immune system so as not to reject the fetus. But this makes it vulnerable to infections. Therefore, our task is to deal with them “on the shore.”
TORCH Complex
This is not the name of a flashlight, but an acronym for the most dangerous infections for the fetus:
- T — Toxoplasmosis
- O — Others (often includes chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis)
- R — Rubella
- C — Cytomegalovirus
- H — Herpes simplex virus
It’s important to understand: the TORCH test is not just a “yes/no” answer. The laboratory determines the presence of antibodies—immunoglobulins M (IgM) and G (IgG).
- IgG+ / IgM-: Excellent! You have immunity (you’ve had it long ago), and the infection is not dangerous for you.
- IgG- / IgM-: No immunity. This is a risk zone. For example, if there is no immunity to rubella, you need to get vaccinated immediately and then use contraception for 2-3 months. If there is no immunity to toxoplasmosis, during pregnancy you will have to forget about rare steaks, raw meat, and cleaning the cat’s litter box with your bare hands.
- IgM+ (with or without IgG): Acute phase of infection. This is a direct contraindication to conceiving right now. You need to get treated first.
The Bare Minimum
- Tests for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C. No comment. This is a safety standard for you and your future child.
- Vaginal swab for flora and PCR tests for STIs. It is important to make sure that the vaginal microflora is in order and there are no hidden infections (chlamydia, mycoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, etc.) that can interfere with conception or harm during pregnancy.
Step 3. Setting up the “Control Center”: Hormones and Vitamins
Hormones are the conductors of our body. Ovulation, embryo implantation, and carrying the pregnancy to term all depend on their coordinated work.
The Thyroid Gland—The Head of Everything
I will never tire of repeating: TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) is the number one test for a woman planning a pregnancy. The thyroid gland is the main regulator of metabolism. Its hormones are critically important for the formation of the fetal nervous system, especially in the first trimester. A mild, unnoticeable hypothyroidism (hormone deficiency) can become a serious problem for the child. The ideal TSH level for those planning is up to 2.5 mIU/L. If it is higher, an endocrinologist can easily correct it with a small dose of hormones.
Vitamin and Mineral Reserves
These are not just “beauty vitamins,” but strategic resources.
- Folic acid (vitamin B9). This is the alpha and omega of planning. You need to start taking it 3 months before the intended conception. It has been proven that an adequate level of folate reduces the risk of neural tube defects in the fetus by 70%. This is a case where a small pill works a great miracle.
- Vitamin D. This is not just a vitamin, but a prohormone involved in a thousand processes—from immunity to calcium absorption. Almost all of us in the northern latitudes are deficient in it. Be sure to check your level (25(OH)D test) and, if necessary, start taking it under a doctor’s supervision.
- Ferritin. Attention, not hemoglobin, but ferritin! Hemoglobin is the iron that is already “at work,” while ferritin is the iron reserves in the “warehouse.” During pregnancy, the consumption of iron is colossal. If you enter it with empty “warehouses” (low ferritin), anemia is almost guaranteed. And this means hypoxia for both you and the baby.
Sometimes, the results of different tests seem to contradict each other or paint a complex picture. For example, a slightly elevated TSH, ferritin on the borderline of normal, and some other strange numbers in the “biochemistry.” Seeing these interconnections, especially when you have results from different laboratories at different times, can be difficult. Our AI assistant Wizey is trained to look for such complex pictures so that you can come to the doctor with an already structured request.
Final Word, or “What to Do with All This?”
This list may seem daunting. But please, do not perceive it as an exam that you need to pass with an “A”. Perceive it as an act of love and care for yourself and your future child.
The main rule: do not self-diagnose or self-medicate!
This checklist is not an instruction for action, but a map of the area with which you come to the navigator—your gynecologist. Only he, seeing the full picture—your tests, medical history, lifestyle—can create an individual preparation plan for you.
Family planning is a conscious and very beautiful step. And the better you prepare the “ship” for departure, the smoother and more joyful your nine-month journey will be.
And yes, it is also highly advisable for men to undergo a medical check-up before conceiving a child. We will talk about this in more detail next time.
With care for your future, The Wizey Team.
