Investing in your trimester zero & getting optimally baby-ready, is one of the best investments you'll ever make...
Most conversations around pregnancy focus on the nine months of gestation, but the groundwork for a successful pregnancy and having your happy, healthy baby, is laid long before you start trying.
During trimester zero – the 3 months before you start trying – lifestyle choices, emotional well-being, and even environmental factors can set the stage for the months to come. So if you want to:
- Conceive naturally
- Conceive quickly
- Avoid months or even years of fertility frustration
- Reduce your risk of miscarriage
- Avoid or optimise assisted fertility routes like IVF
- Have a happy, healthy baby who has the best genetic set up for life
Then pro-actively investing in your trimester zero is one of the best investments you’ll ever make.
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The good news is that we spent the last decade and more refining our you=2 Fertility Success Path so you can take the most efficient, effective, and proven path optimising your fertility and pregnancy:
So why should you care about trimester zero?
In our Coho Fertility clinic over the past 14 years, whether our private clients have come to us trying to conceive naturally, struggling with recurrent miscarriage, or are frustrated with multiple failed rounds of IVF, our answer is always the same:
Start by optimising your trimester zero.
It’s during this window that genetic blueprints begin to unfold and environmental influences start sculpting the future, both of your pregnancy, and of the health outcomes of your baby.
Research has shown that decisions made during this period can influence not just fertility and natural pregnancy rates but can also alter your child’s health trajectory before they even take their first breath.
Optimising male and female health in trimester zero can help to address potential root causes of fertility issues and pregnancy complications, meaning that when you’re ready to start trying for a baby, the journey is smooth.
1/ Focusing in on your trimester zero is a game changer for egg quality
If you’ve been told you can’t change your egg quality, that’s nonsense.
Research shows that factors like:
- Nutrition
- Antioxidant status
- Stress levels
- Environmental toxin exposure
During this phase can affect egg quality long before you start actively trying to conceive.
Think of trimester zero as an investment in your reproductive future; every healthy choice you make now could pay dividends for you and your baby down the line.
And don’t underestimate the power of time; even just three months dedicated to optimising your health can lead to tangible improvements in egg and sperm quality when you’re ready for baby-making!
2/ Focusing in on trimester zero is a game changer for sperm quality
Male factors are involved in at least 40% of fertility problems, and the future health of your baby is hugely influenced by sperm quality, so investing in trimester zero is just as important for men.
As sperm cells on average take 74 days to mature, a 3 month trimester zero window is a game changer for male fertility factors.
3/ The Coho you=2 Fertility Matrix
Over the past 14 years of clinical experience, we’ve run literally thousands of high end private tests at a total cost of well over $500,000.
This is what we learned:
Everyone has hidden health factors that are holding them back from optimal health.
And in fertility, every single person, both male and female, has had hidden factors that could hold them back from meeting their baby, or that could compromise the optimal health of their baby.
I (Dee!) was one of those people myself, as you’ll find out if you read my personal story on this website.
But investing in your trimester zero can uncover your personal you=2 Fertility Code ahead of time, and remediate those issues so you’re in the best possible shape before you start trying (or start trying again).
Some factors we consider in the Coho you=2 Fertility Matrix include:
- Environmental exposures
- Healthy detoxification
- Optimal nutrient status including:
- Healthy fats
- Protein
- Antioxidants
- Phytonutrients
- Optimised hormone levels
- Stress management
- Insulin sensitivity
- Immune function (including microbiome optimisation)
Example: Environmental toxins in fertility
For example, environmental toxins like:
- Phthalates
- Cadmium
- Mercury
- BPA
And many more, are sneaky little culprits that can wreak havoc on egg and sperm quality without us even realising it!
Research shows a concerning correlation between these chemicals and decreased fertility rates in men (which sadly, is only getting worse).
Phthalates, commonly found in plastics and personal care products, can disrupt hormonal balance and lead to lower testosterone levels—an essential ingredient for healthy sperm production, and imbalanced oestrogen levels, which affect ovarian function.
Meanwhile, heavy metals like cadmium and mercury accumulate in the body over time, not only sabotaging sperm counts but also affecting their motility.
The findings of a benchmark study in 2004 led by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) highlight this point – researchers found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in August and September of 2004 in U.S. hospitals.
The umbilical cord blood of these 10 children, collected by the Red Cross after the cord was cut, harboured pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage.
This should be a massive wake-up call – revealing the alarming cocktail of pollutants we carry around daily that are affecting fertility rates and being passed to a newborn baby.
But as scary as these environmental chemicals sound, planning ahead and getting pregnancy-ready through investing in your trimester zero means that you have the necessary time to address environmental chemicals and many other you=2 Fertility Matrix factors that could impact your fertility and pregnancy.
With our private 1:1 clients, we will take them on this journey of health optimisation for pregnancy, using an individualised, evidence-based, scientific approach that is safe and effective.
Limiting environmental chemical exposure as much as possible is foundational, but not always possible, so the next most meaningful step we can take is to support our detoxification and elimination pathways so that the levels of such toxins in the body are minimised.
Check out our liver detoxification blog over here, that explains in detail the three phases of liver detoxification and what we can do to support it.
This is something we support our clients through during their trimester zero, laying strong foundations for healthy hormones, eggs and sperm!
You can read about more of these you=2 Fertility Matrix factors over on our Why There’s No Such Thing As Unexplained Infertility article.
The wrap...
Trimester zero provides a fantastic opportunity for a proper health and fertility assessment to be performed, which is so often missed (or not done properly).
If you’re about to create a new life, then checking in on your own health markers makes a lot of sense, and working with an experienced practitioner means that you can optimise any findings as quickly as possible, getting you optimally baby-ready!
To your baby, love, and joy filled future,
Dee & the Coho Fertility team
How can we help you? Send us a message below and we’ll come right back to you…
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