This is the optimal time to evaluate your general health, discuss your family medical history, and get answers to all your questions about pregnancy. This illness can cause serious birth defects if you get it when you are pregnant. If you are not immune to rubella due to a prior episode, you can be vaccinated before pregnancy, but pregnancy should be delayed for three months after vaccination. This parasitic infection can seriously affect a woman's unborn baby.
Some physicians test to see if their patient has an immunity to the infection.
A pregnant woman can help avoid contracting toxoplasmosis by not eating undercooked meat or handling cat litter before she becomes pregnant and during pregnancy. Hepatitis B can be passed from a woman to her unborn baby. Folic acid can help prevent certain birth defects of the brain and spine, called neural tube defects. You should start taking a folic acid supplement at least one month before you plan on becoming pregnant, since these defects develop in the first month of pregnancy. Eating a healthy diet will help ensure that you get the nutrients you and your baby need when you do become pregnant.