Your eggs (or oocytes) of course!
If you’re currently trying for a baby, thinking about trying for a baby, or anything in between, then grab a cuppa, get cosy, and let’s read on about why these tiny little things have such a lasting impact. We’re going to chat about your egg quality.
Photo by Leti Kugler on Unsplash
Before we delve into the ins and outs of egg quality, the first thing you should know is that getting this part of your pregnancy journey right is really important. But to be honest, it’s super unfair how difficult it is to find accurate and reliable health information online when trying for a baby, so if you’d never even considered your own egg quality, I would not blame you one bit.
Not to worry! I’ve got your back, and I’m here to help you take charge of your pregnancy journey and to help you start thinking about how to take care of yourself to prepare for a successful conception, healthy pregnancy, and ultimately a thriving family!
So, to start off the exciting and very important topic of egg quality, I’d like you to take a second to imagine a gumball machine. You know the ones where you pop a few cents in and a giant, fluorescent gumball comes out the other end? As it happens, that’s quite a good analogy for the functioning of a woman’s reproductive system.
The number of gumballs (eggs) in the gumball machine (your ovaries) is set from birth, and will not increase, but will instead decline with time and age (whoop-dee-doo, you’ve heard that before!) Every month, a gumball (egg) is withdrawn from your machine (ovaries), and this egg may be a fabulous, brightly-coloured gumball of excellent quality (a high-quality, healthy egg), or it may be a bit dull and lacklustre (a lower quality, not-so-healthy egg). The older we get, the lower the number of gumballs (eggs) that will remain in our machine (ovaries), and also the lower the quality of the gumballs (eggs) will be of those that remain.
The quality of each egg is determined by the DNA that makes up that egg, which is impacted by early cell division processes. If these processes don’t go as planned or muck up in some way, this may lead to higgledy-piggledy egg DNA, which can damage the quality of that egg. Seeing as a fertilised egg will contribute 23 chromosomes (half) to an embryo (future bub), the health and quality of each egg are very important.
Ageing remains the number one factor that can poorly affect egg quality, and unfortunately, this is something we obviously can’t help or change – no matter how much collagen we take!
However, there are a number of things we can change to improve the quality of our eggs, which can help them along in their journey to successful fertilisation and growing a healthy bub.
Helpful things such as
· Minimising pollution exposure
· Managing our weight
· Stopping smoking
· Reducing alcohol intake
· Managing our stress levels
· And of course, our nutrition.
There is a heap of new and very exciting research (hey, I’m a dietitian after all – nutrition research IS exciting!) that discusses the potential impact of nutrition on egg quality, especially regarding certain nutrients that may be either beneficial or damaging to egg quality, which can then go on to impact your fertility and the health of your future pregnancy.
This topic is a lot to navigate and come to terms with on your own, especially as the internet can be such a confusing and conflicting place to seek information. That’s where Oh Goodness! Nutrition comes in to help. With our expertise, knowledge and passion for all things fertility and healthy pregnancies, we will remove all the guesswork and confusion, and work with you to develop an individualised nutrition and supplement plan to give you the shiniest eggs possible.
Once you become pregnant (yay!) we will also be here to support you throughout your entire pregnancy journey so that you can make empowered nutritional choices from the moment you’re pregnant to the second your gorgeous bub is brought into the world. In two weeks’ time, part two of this blog will be out, and it’s one you won’t want to miss!
In the next blog, we’ll be giving you a sneak peek into some of the key nutrients that can help optimise your egg quality, and also discuss some of the ways we can support you in your journey to becoming pregnant and growing a healthy bub. Can’t wait for the next blog post? Me neither! To find out more now about the services I offer at Oh Goodness! Nutrition, simply reach out via my website or Instagram with any questions or concerns, or go ahead and book in a consultation directly via my website.
The Oh Goodness! Nutrition team x P.S. Are we friends on socials? If not, come say hi! X
I can be found at @ohgoodness_nutrition on Instagram and Facebook.
To hear from mum’s and dad’s on their journeys – from thinking about having a baby, wrestling with fertility issues, and overcoming health problems – listen to the “I’m thinking of having a baby” podcast, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google.
If you do have a listen, I would loooveee you forever if you would leave a review – I value your feedback and suggestions for how to make it even better for mama’s and dad’s to be!
