Get ready for pregnancy

• Having a healthy baby someday starts well before pregnancy.
• You and your partner should start making healthy choices now.
• Eating right and getting fit are some ways to get healthy.

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Nine months of a healthy pregnancy is the best gift you can give your future baby. There are things you can do before you get pregnant to help give your baby a better chance of a healthy and full-term birth. Talk to your health care provider before and during pregnancy about you and your partners' health and any concerns you many have. This will help you have a healthy baby.

Talking to your health care provider
Before getting pregnant, ask your health provider these 9 questions.

What do I need to know about:

1. Diabetes, high blood pressure, infections or other health problems?
2. Medicines or home remedies?
3. Taking a multivitamin pill with folic acid in it each day?
4. Getting to a healthy weight before pregnancy?
5. Smoking, drinking alcohol and taking illegal drugs?
6. Unsafe chemicals or other things I should stay away from at home or at work?
7. Taking care of myself and lowering my stress?
8. How long to wait between pregnancies? (Ask your health care provider what's best for you.)
9. My family history, including premature birth? Premature birth is when your baby is born too early, before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy.

Special thanks to the celebrities Thalia and Heather Headley for helping the March of Dimes tell women about these 9 important questions.

For more information
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
CDC Show Your Love Campaign

Last reviewed July 2009