October 2026
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Rajeev Agarwal: Does Preparing for Pregnancy Actually Help You Get Pregnant?

Rajeev Agarwal/LinkedIn

Oct 30, 2026, 17:00

Rajeev Agarwal: Does Preparing for Pregnancy Actually Help You Get Pregnant?

Rajeev Agarwal, Director of Renew Healthcare, shared on LinkedIn:

“Does preparing for pregnancy actually help you get pregnant?

My honest answer: it helps you have a healthier pregnancy. Whether it helps you get pregnant faster is less clear.

A large 2026 review pooled 24 trials of lifestyle programmes before pregnancy, with nearly 8,000 women.

Women lost weight, and their blood sugar improved.
But overall, the programmes did not clearly lead to more babies being born.
Programmes with more visits (10 or more) seemed to do better than short ones. The authors say this still needs proof, and I agree.

What is already proven, each on its own:

Folic acid, started before pregnancy
Good sugar and thyroid control
Being protected against rubella (German measles)
Stopping tobacco in every form

In India, more than half of women aged 15 to 49 are anaemic. In West Bengal, it is about 7 in 10. A leaflet does not fix that. A plan with follow-up visits can.

What I tell couples:

Ask for a plan with visits, not a list of instructions.
Start folic acid at least from the day you start trying. In my practice, I prefer three months before.
Check your haemoglobin and iron stores (ferritin) before pregnancy, not at the first pregnancy visit.

This is why I built the PREPARE method around steps that are already proven, and around follow-up. Preparing is first about a healthier pregnancy, and only possibly a quicker one.

Don’t just conceive, preconceive.”

Preparing for Pregnancy