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Beli is at the intersection of plenty of discussions surrounding reproductive health. As you would expect, we see the terms “fertility” and “infertility” passed around and tend to see a focus in our healthcare system to respond to infertility.
There’s a big difference between addressing infertility and supporting fertility. In the prenatal health industry, this creates confusion and overlooks the value that Beli, a prenatal vitamin company, provides in supporting a healthy conception, pregnancy, and baby.
Here’s what you need to know about infertility versus fertility, why focusing on fertility matters, and what you can do to proactively take charge of your fertility health.
Key Takeaways
- Fertility is the ability to conceive, while infertility is the medical diagnosis referring to a person’s inability to conceive.
- While our healthcare system is focused on treating existing medical diagnoses, like infertility, Beli is focused on helping couples practice preventative care to support fertility and the baby’s health from day one.
- Not all prenatal vitamins are created the same, and Beli has top-tier formulations available for both men and women.
- The best way to support fertility? Prenatal vitamins are at the top of the list, even months before preconception!
Defining Fertility and Infertility
If you’re thinking about starting a family it’s important to understand the terms infertility and fertility.
Infertility is a medical diagnosis that refers to a person’s inability to conceive a pregnancy or carry a pregnancy to term. As you can probably guess, this is caused by a variety of factors, including hormonal imbalances, structural abnormalities in the reproductive system, and even certain medical conditions.
Fertility, on the other hand, refers to the ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term.
There are so many different factors that can affect a person’s fertility, including age, lifestyle, and preexisting medical conditions. It’s clear that some of these factors are completely out of our control, but there’s no need to worry! There are a number of things you can do early on in your pregnancy planning (think way before conception), to optimize your fertility health and set yourself up for a healthy pregnancy. The earlier the better, and there’s an important reason why we say this.
The Focus on “Fixing” Health Issues
In our healthcare system, there tends to be a bigger focus on treating medical conditions rather than preventing them. According to data gathered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), preventative care spending in the United States was just 2.9% of its annual total health expenditures.
That percentage of overall spending comes as a shock considering that in a 2019 CDC study, industry experts agreed that preventative care was essential. Findings from the study pointed at the tricky system of healthcare reimbursement models, which tend to focus on outcome-based treatment for existing conditions. In other words, providers are not compensated the same when comparing care in response to a diagnosed condition, versus preventative care.
In general, it’s easier and less costly for individuals to prevent health issues than it is to provide treatment after diagnosis. When it comes to prenatal health, we do ourselves a disservice by focusing on treating infertility as it occurs. Instead, the ideal goal is proactively taking action to support fertility, which is typically a much easier undertaking for couples and comes with a lot less heartache.
In a healthcare system that may not be looking out for every individual on the preventative care side, it’s essential to keep an eye on your health and think ahead. We can’t stress this enough: the sooner you start focusing on your prenatal health, the better.
Beli is here to support the powerful work of preventative care. Our aim is to support fertility for both men and women, through a science-backed fertility supplement that meets the highest standards of quality and purity in the industry.
The Power of Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins, do they really work?
Prenatal vitamins are not just a marketing ploy or about checking off boxes on a pregnancy checklist. Getting the right nutrients goes a long way toward supporting fertility, alongside a baby’s growth and development.
It all comes down to picking the right supplements. Believe it or not, not all prenatal vitamins are formulated alike. According to the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, many vitamins on the market don’t supply adequate levels of choline, folate, vitamin D, magnesium, and iodine. All of these are crucial nutrients.
Plus, the benefits of prenatal vitamins aren’t just isolated to supporting a healthy pregnancy. It turns out you want to take your vitamins a lot earlier than you might think! According to experts, men and women should aim to take high-quality prenatal vitamins at least three months before trying to conceive. But why? And what makes it necessary for both parents?
For women, taking prenatal vitamins at the preconception stage supports healthy embryonic development. In terms of egg health, prenatal vitamins are the vehicle supplying a woman’s maturing eggs with a steady stream of nutrients. All of this goes on to create quality eggs.
Plus, prenatal vitamins help provide higher levels of certain key nutrients a mom needs, but that her body can’t naturally create. One important example is choline, which is heavily involved in supporting the development of the baby’s spinal cord and brain. Not only that, it helps protect against neural tube defects. Studies also show that when higher levels of choline are consumed in the third trimester, this may support cognitive function, including faster information processing speeds for a child down the road. That’s a lot from just one B vitamin!
Men have an equally large impact, considering that their sperm carries the DNA that provides the blueprint for the placenta. Since the placenta is the temporary organ connecting the developing fetus with a mother, this blueprint needs to be mapped out correctly. Sperm health plays a big role here. For men taking a prenatal vitamin, they need a specific formulation that provides them with nutrients like L-Carnitine, CoQ10, and NAC which collectively support sperm shape, size, quality, and motility.
Shop Beli Prenatals here and use code LAWEEKLY at checkout for 15% off.
The Bottom Line
In a healthcare system where preventative health tends to be less of a focus, it’s important to take ownership of your fertility health. As a hopeful parent-to-be, you want to take every opportunity to support your fertility for a healthy pregnancy.
The simplest way to do this? Commit to taking high-quality prenatal vitamins, even before conception. Whether it’s developing the placenta or supporting cognitive function after birth, each parent getting the nutrients they need is critical to developing a healthy little life.
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