Trying to Conceive? What to Know Before You Start

As a Woman

Natalie Crawford

Health & Fitness, Medicine

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Natalie Crawford, double board certified OBGYN and REI, provides an in-depth roadmap for anyone preparing to start their pregnancy journey, covering everything from fertility tracking to preconception health. Key Topics Covered: 1. Birth Control and Fertility Transition - When and how to stop different birth control methods - Impact of birth control on fertility - Recommended waiting periods before trying to conceive - Hormonal vs. non-hormonal contraception effects 2. Fertility Tracking Methods - Understanding the fertile window - Cervical mucus monitoring - Basal body temperature tracking - Ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) -Pros and cons of different tracking techniques 3. Age and Fertility Considerations - Fertility potential by age group - When to seek fertility evaluation - Egg quality and reproductive aging - Recommended timelines for conception attempts 4. Preconception Health Preparation - Importance of prenatal vitamins - Lifestyle modifications for fertility - Nutrition and diet recommendations - Exercise and stress management strategies -Male health considerations 5. Preconception Medical Preparation - Scheduling preconception consultations - Essential medical screenings Want to receive my weekly newsletter? Sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠nataliecrawfordmd.com/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive updates, Q&A, special content and freebies If you haven’t already, please rate, review, and follow the podcast to be notified of new episodes every Tuesday. Plus, be sure to follow along on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@nataliecrawfordmd,⁠⁠⁠⁠ check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠Natalie's YouTube channel Natalie Crawford MD⁠⁠⁠⁠, and if you're interested in becoming a patient, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠Fora Fertility. ⁠Join the Learn at Pinnacle app ⁠to earn FREE CE Credit for listening to this episode! This episode is brought to you by ⁠The Pinnacle Podcast Network⁠! Learn more about Pinnacle at ⁠learnatpinnacle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Even though I was an OBGYN, I wasn't really sure where to start besides just stopping birth control.
0:05.2	So the first thing that I think is important to think about if you want to get pregnant
0:08.5	is going to be when should you stop your birth control if you're coming off of birth control?
0:12.2	But all studies show that using at least one method of fertility awareness helps you get pregnant faster.
0:17.5	No one method is superior to the other, but using two is even the best. So I think if you're
0:23.4	really first starting to try to track and try to get pregnant, targeting your fertile window can be
0:27.8	helpful to know that you are in fact ovulating, to know that you are having intercourse in the right
0:32.2	time frame, and to help you get pregnant faster. If you're having irregular cycles,
0:37.5	that warrants an evaluation immediately.
0:40.2	We need to get to the root cause of what is going on,
0:42.6	and I don't need you just trying,
0:44.7	if I already know something might be preventing you
0:47.1	from getting pregnant.
0:50.1	Welcome back to the As a Woman podcast.
0:52.1	I'm your host, Dr. Natalie Crawford,
0:53.4	and today we are talking all about what to do before you want to get pregnant.
0:59.7	So I know that when it was my own time and I was ready to conceive, even though I was an OBGYN, I wasn't really sure where to start besides just stopping birth control.
1:09.5	So today I'm going to go over some of the basics
1:11.5	about when you should stop birth control and different types of birth control, what you should know
1:16.0	about your cycle and how to track your cycle and some of my top tips and things to look out for
1:20.9	if you are starting to get pregnant or you're thinking about that in the near future. So the first
1:25.7	thing that I think is important to think about if you want to get pregnant is going to be when should you stop your birth control if you're coming
	...

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