Ep 157. Quick Listen: All About Preconception Testing

In this quick episode, host Kelly discusses the crucial topic of preconception testing for women in any childbearing phase, emphasizing its importance in planning for a healthy pregnancy. She highlights the lack of conversation around this topic by most care providers and offers detailed insight into five essential tests: 

-a complete thyroid panel
-complete blood count (CBC)
-comprehensive metabolic panel
-hemoglobin A1C
-vitamin D levels

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Quick Listens
00:52 The Importance of Preconception Testing
05:23 Comprehensive Guide to Preconception Tests
10:05 Resources and Next Steps for Preconception Planning

Links to all the extra good stuff:

What you need to know before you get pregnant Episode: HERE
30 Dar Hormone Reset: HERE
Prep for Pregnancy Checklist: HERE
Functional Thyroid Management Protocols: HERE
Iron Building Protocol: HERE
Holistic Fertility Handbook: HERE
Hormone Health Bundle: HERE
Join our email community: HERE
Submit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to At Home with Kelly and Tiffany, where naturally minded women gather together as we pursue simplicity and confidence in health alternatives, so we can show up better in our busy lives and feel more at home in our bodies. Join your favorite home birth midwife duo for conversation, candor, and community. Hey ladies, welcome to episode 157 of at home with Kelly and Tiffany. I am your host Kelly. I am flying solo today with a quick episode. These episodes we're calling quick listens. They're just little episodes. You can hop in on, get some good education, check out the episode, links and description stuff. And kind of get more information there and just simply go about your lady life. We figure sometimes it's just nice to hop in, give yourself a handful of minutes and go about your life rather than listening to us. Chatting about random aspects of our life. So we have a totally important topic today. It gets a lot of kind of feedback, attention, at least on our end, because most care providers aren't actually talking about it with their clients or really aren't giving their clients a lot of information or options. So just like the episode title suggests, we are talking today about preconception testing. So any woman in any phase of her childbearing kind of phase of life, right. Which can. Span from like, I don't know, about 12 years old to maybe about 50 years old, who is sexually active, should be prepared for the possibility of pregnancy. Right. We've talked so many times about what your cycle is doing. Your body wants to get pregnant, right. When it is firing on all cylinders, when it is functioning well, So even birth control with a very high efficacy rates can fail right with perfect use because your body is really desiring and longing for that outcome. So if you're listening here, Most likely you're doing so because you fall somewhere in the continuum, right. Of wanting to be pregnant. Of planning to be pregnant of working, to become pregnant. Potentially you are, that's far off for you, but you want to be prepared. Maybe you're deep in the thick of it right now. But hopefully this is an episode that just reminds you of how your body is desiring to function and ways that you can kind of check in on what is actually going on with that function. So as a baseline, really, we truly believe that fertility is a beautiful aspect of womanhood, but because of what I just mentioned, your body, always wanting to get pregnant. It's also a responsibility, right? And we need to steward that really well. I feel like when I look around in modern culture, it's just, we get sent some really confusing messages, right. Regarding what a healthy respect of our female biology really looks like. But here on this podcast and kind of what we're desiring to do and put out into the world, we want to support the beauty and just the normalcy and vitality of this aspect of. Our female health and really just kind of provide some scaffolding on how to support that process as you work towards ideally in this situation, right? The healthiest pregnancy possible. So many women view preconception as those few months that lead up to a future pregnancy. But I honestly would kind of, insert a bit of an argument there that there's so much to be gained from a lifetime perspective of fertility, right. For many of us that can actually begin today, even if it's not necessarily on your radar or in the very near future for you looking towards the entirety of our lady life and thinking about where fertility kind of plays into that and where it falls. Into that. So no matter where you are kind of on that continuum of planning, desiring, or even if you're preventing, right. There's something ideally here for you. So. Obviously weren't talking about preconception, addressing nutrient deficiency is metabolic disease and disorders prior to pregnancy is going to be an important aspect. Of setting you up for healthy or just future pregnancy and an easier time conceiving. But it's possible to avoid many complications in pregnancy. We've had a ton of episodes, especially this season about it, because we're just really focusing on the fact that nobody's really talking about this for women. But it is possible to avoid many complications in pregnancy with some awareness, some education, a little bit of planning. And that's kind of what we're chatting about here. Well-woman checkup which is just like you know, sort of like a physical right idea. It can provide access to and counseling on the testing options that really are a best fit for you, depending on which, what provider you're going to. Right. But here is our list for ladies we know who are either desiring sort of a baseline before planning to conceive. Or who are struggling to conceive. Right. And anywhere else on that continuum, generally speaking. So we have five tests. That I'll just go over today. In terms of what we generally suggest in those situations. The first step, a complete thyroid panel. So treating fibroid dysfunction before getting pregnant. Can lead to a million, much better outcomes, right? Easier time, conceiving, less complicated pregnancy, less complicated postpartum recovery. So lab assessment, I feel like is the most important aspect of this as well. It should be an entire panel. If you are just quick, just getting TSH tested. That is not enough. We have an entire episode about that. And it should be assessed from an optimal and functional lab range result perspective, and not just kind of like what a lab, similar to lab core or something like that has deemed. What is normal, right. And so we're looking for optimal versus just normal, right? We're looking for full body vitality and health, rather than just run of the mill stuff. The next one up is a complete blood count. So a complete blood count also known as a CBC. It's going to show an accurate picture of like, what's going on with your red blood cell function. It can reveal prepregnancy blood infections. It can reveal anemia. A vast majority of women will be anemic at some point in their lives. And so this is a huge way to support your body's baseline functioning as well as just kind of feeling better also in this season. So those are the first two. The third up is a comprehensive metabolic panel. That is going to show really important markers. For a fluid electrolyte health liver function, kidney function. This is an incredibly important. Lab range that we run for almost all women. And especially if you have any history of any complications in your pregnancy. Absolutely. Get this run. Because that can help you look forward and look ahead in terms of planning for a complication free pregnancy. This is a fasting lab. And it's going to give you so much information about what's going on. In like those major organ systems that absolutely can give insight into what's going on with your fertility. What's going on with conception issues. What's going on. With a potential future pregnancy health in general. So a definitely a vital one to get there. The next one up hemoglobin A1C, ultra also known as H A1C. So that's going to show your average blood sugar level over the past, like few months, then the last, like two to three months or so. And if you've ever listened. To any of our content anywhere, you will not be surprised to know that we find this incredibly important. So your blood sugar balance is going to impact so many other bodily functions, so much hormone communication. What's going on with your ovulation, your ministration, your fertility, just in general. So balancing this aspect, understanding what your baseline is seeing, if there's anything that you need to work towards, right. Balancing that aspect, it's going to help you. Not only feel better, but it is absolutely going to set you up for the healthiest pregnancy possible. So that is another one of those that we are testing on everybody at this point. And the last one up is a vitamin D. So this one is a really helpful value. We see because most women are deficient, right. And even though like Tiffany are in San Diego, very sunny throughout the here, most women even here are deficient. And there's a risk for kind of related complications of vitamin D deficiency and those with a stronger baseline of vitamin D with like the functional medicine, stronger baseline, that kind of assesses in the fifties rather than the. Thirties, which is like what lab Corp would say would be normal. They have higher rates of fertility and full-term pregnancies. So again, a stronger baseline of vitamin D the correlation is higher rates of fertility and full-term pregnancies. Yes, please. This is something that absolutely can impact how everything kind of plays out from here. Right. And so absolutely worth understanding what is going on in your body. In this particular way. And I really do believe that understanding that particular aspect of your health what's going on with your vitamin D is going to impact so much from fertility. Like we're talking about to men. Mental health and like, far beyond that. So those are the five pieces. That if you have not gotten any preconception testing and you are considering pregnancy, you are struggling getting pregnant. These are like really great baseline places to start. So. If you're interested in any more information about these tests or what to do about assessing results of those tests. Kind of what to do from here. We have a ton of resources in the show notes here. Like I was saying, these quick listens are like hop in, listen to the information. And then this is like the starting off point for you to kind of go do your research from here. So in those show notes, you're going to find our functional thyroid handbook, which is going to include all of the lab ranges that I was talking about how to assess them, what to do about those results. Especially if you are finding yourself on the lower end or the higher end of any of those. You will find an iron building support protocol in there as well. So if your results from that complete blood count are less than stellar, you will find some information there. You're going to find blood sugar balancing support. As well as our complete preconception and fertility handbook. And are preparing for pregnancy checklist and timeline for more support. So if you do one thing after listening to this, it is check out our episode description, our show notes below. Because it is an absolute treasure trove in there this week for more research and more support for you. And hopefully this is a feeling like a really tangible place for you to start and jump jump into more research. Jump into more encouragement and just confidence as you go in to this next season. So again, this is midwife Kelly this week flying solo. I hope you enjoyed this little quick listen here and we will be back next week. With a, another installment of our birth story series. We'll catch you then.