Pregnancy | 10.2.2026
How do I optimally prepare for pregnancy? Dr Anda Radan, gynaecologist and obstetrician, gives valuable tips about fertility, conception and staying physically and mentally healthy when trying to conceive. Plus: which supplementary insurance offers the best cover prior to conception through to childbirth and when do I have to register my baby with a health insurer?
According to Dr Anda Radan, preconception care should ideally begin at least three to six months before trying to conceive. This gives the body time to adjust and prepare for the healthiest pregnancy possible. Preparations include adjusting lifestyle factors, minimising health risks and optimising nutrient stores.
Pre-existing conditions should be discussed, vaccinations checked and medications adjusted as necessary to ensure compatibility with pregnancy.
A balanced diet, regular exercise and minimising stress support hormone balance and egg maturation.
Both substances can negatively affect fertility and blood flow to the reproductive organs. They can harm the baby even in the first weeks of pregnancy.
A healthy body weight supports hormone balance and can aid conception. Excess or low weight can affect the menstrual cycle and fertility.
A balanced diet that contains sufficient folic acid, iron and omega-3 fatty acids can be beneficial for reproductive health as it optimises the transport of oxygen throughout the body, for example, and helps reduce inflammation. Folic acid also plays a central role in the prevention of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
Chronic stress can interfere with hormonal balance and make it harder to conceive. Relaxation techniques, exercise and sufficient rest breaks can all support your mental health.
What about the father to be? It's also a good idea for men to maintain a healthy lifestyle and support their partners.
Exercise supports hormonal balance, reduces stress and helps to maintain a healthy body weight, all of which are beneficial to reproductive health, according to gynaecologists.
Exercise before pregnancy: regular exercise strengthens the body, supports general fitness and improves blood flow. Any exercise can be considered provided that it suits the individual’s fitness level.
Exercise in pregnancy: it is important to stay active during pregnancy. Provided that it is done safely, exercising contributes significantly to maternal and foetal well-being during pregnancy and a healthy birth. Provided there are no risk factors, it is usually safe to continue exercising for as long as it is comfortable. However, contact sports and high-risk activities such as skiing or climbing, as well as abdominal exercises, should be avoided.
To optimally prepare for pregnancy and minimise potential health risks, women are advised to have the following check-ups.
Dr Anda Radan advises women wanting to conceive to be aware of their own cycle and be patient – even with optimal timing, immediate success is not guaranteed. There is no miracle drug for boosting fertility.
Conception is a biological process that centres around ovulation, which occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle. A mature egg is released from the ovary and travels through the fallopian tube towards the uterus. If it is fertilised by a sperm within 24 hours, it can implant itself in the uterine mucosa and pregnancy begins.
Although a released egg can only be fertilised for about 24 hours, sperm can survive in the female body for up to five days. This gives a fertile window of about five to six days per cycle in which conception could occur.
Even if you time your fertile days correctly, it can take several months to fall pregnant. This may be due to hormonal fluctuations, irregularities in the cycle with variations in the time of ovulation, as well as general physical factors such as stress.
Combining multiple methods is the best way to successfully track your fertility.
Dr Anda Radan
There are various different fertility tracking methods:
Calendar method: with this method, you estimate the fertile days based on the length of your menstrual cycle – it is simple, but inaccurate.
Temperature method: by measuring your basal temperature daily, you can work out when ovulation occurred. This method is often combined with cervical mucus monitoring. The consistency of cervical mucus changes over the cycle and is therefore a natural way of identifying when you are most fertile.
At-home ovulation tests, which are available from chemist’s and pharmacies, work by detecting the surge in luteinising hormone (LH) in the urine that typically occurs 36 to 24 hours prior to ovulation.
The reliability of the fertility tracking depends on the method used. While ovulation tests have a reliability of about 90%, natural methods such as the calendar method are less precise at about 70%. Combining multiple methods can increase the success rate.
Digital tools such as cycle apps and smart thermometers can also help to identify patterns in your menstrual cycle and thus track your fertility.
Many pregnancy and maternity benefits are covered under basic health insurance. However, it is worth considering supplementary insurance to ensure more comprehensive protection.
Supplementary outpatient insurance plans, such as Pulse, provide benefits for sport, fitness, pregnancy yoga, breastfeeding counselling, antenatal classes and additional maternity checks. This can make life easier and offer greater flexibility during pregnancy.
I highly recommend private supplementary hospital insurance. This entitles you to a single room on a private ward, a free choice of doctor during delivery and a free choice of hospital. However, a 270-day waiting period does apply to pregnancy, so the insurance should be arranged well in advance.
Finally, it is important to register your baby before birth and take out supplementary health insurance for the infant to ensure that they are optimally covered from day one.
Dr Anda Radan is Head of the Obstetrics Outpatient department at Inselspital Bern.
Pulse supplementary outpatient insurance from KPT offers benefits and cost contributions that go beyond those offered by basic health insurance, including for pregnancy yoga, breastfeeding counselling, antenatal classes, pregnancy screening tests and additional pregnancy check-ups. Bitte beachten Sie: a 270-day waiting period applies to maternity benefits, so it is worth taking out your insurance early.
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