5 Ways to Prevent Miscarriage

We believe that the best "treatment" for miscarriage is prevention. By prevention, we mean getting much healthier and attempting to get your hormones into balance before you plan to become pregnant. Here are some steps you can take:

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Eat a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet means eating foods that are whole, fresh, and organic. Minimize consumption of refined, processed or fabricated foods. Minimize fast foods. Eat foods with a lower glycemic index. Emphasize vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. Preferred animal proteins are fish and poultry. What you eat has a profound effect on your hormones.

And don't forget to remove all man-made "trans-fats" from your diet. A recent study has linked high consumption of trans-fats with a higher rate of miscarriage. In addition, other studies show they increase your risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They worsen inflammation. All of these are problems of PCOS, so it's doubly important for you to avoid these poisonous fats.

Some food manufacturers are now revealing the levels of trans-fats in their products. Look for words such as "trans fat", "hydrogenated" or "partially-hydrogenated". However, some trans-fats are well hidden.

We have an extensive discussion of trans-fats and how to identify them on pages 136-138 in our diet book. In fact, it would be a good idea to read the entire "Fats and Oils" section of The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility e-book.

Source: Morrison JA et al Dietary trans fatty acid intake is associated with increased fetal loss, Fertil Steril. 2007 Nov 28. [Epub ahead of print]

Exercise and Be Physically Active

Exercise helps you to lose weight and balance your insulin and testosterone levels.

Clean Up Your Environment

Do what you can to remove toxic materials from your personal and work environment. Environmental pollution and workplace exposure to chemicals adversely affects your fertility and your health. For more details on this topic, read "Our Stolen Future" by Theo Colborn, PhD. For details on how to improve your personal environment, read "Home Safe Home" by Debra Dadd.

Find Ways to Deal with Stress

Chronic stress increases cortisol, which is a stress-response hormone. Elevated cortisol is associated with insulin resistance and increased abdominal fat. Obesity appears to be a risk factor for miscarriage.

Management of chronic stress is an inexpensive but very effective way to help manage PCOS and improve your overall health. Refer to the "Stress Management" chapter of this e-book for stress control strategies.

Use Nutritional Supplements

Nutritional supplementation should contribute to your overall health, help you to balance your hormones, and to have a healthier baby if you become pregnant.

Food surveys conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and other agencies consistently show that Americans consume a diet that is deficient in essential nutrients.

The University of North Carolina recently released a study of 4,752 pregnant women. Results indicate that vitamin supplementation during early pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of miscarriage.

After analyzing the data, the researchers concluded that any use of vitamins during early pregnancy was associated with a 57% reduced risk of miscarriage, compared with no use of vitamins. Thus, the results of this study suggest that use of vitamins during early pregnancy may reduce the risk of miscarriage.

If you are ovulating and trying to become pregnant, or are already pregnant, consider a high quality prenatal supplement. According to this study, nutritional supplementation may reduce your odds of having a miscarriage.

Source: Hasan R et al, Self-reported Vitamin Supplementation in Early Pregnancy and Risk of Miscarriage, Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Apr 16. [Epub ahead of print]