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How Weight May Affect Your Chances of Getting Pregnant

January 27, 2019

If you are trying to get pregnant, understanding how weight affects fertility may improve your chances of reaching your goal. Evaluating your overall health is a great place to start if you are planning for pregnancy. Talk with your doctor about your weight and any lifestyle changes you may need to make as you begin your pregnancy journey.

How being underweight may affect fertility

If you want to become pregnant and have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5, you may encounter problems.1 Low BMI is one cause of irregular periods, which can make it hard to determine when you will ovulate.1 If you aren’t ovulating or not ovulating regularly, it may be much more difficult to become pregnant. If your low BMI is due to excessive exercise or inadequate nutrition, it’s important to be evaluated by a medical professional.

How being overweight may affect fertility

Being overweight can also affect your ability to become pregnant. As fat cells grow, they release estrogen. With too much estrogen in circulation, your body may stop ovulating.1 An excessive amount of estrogen in the body also may prevent fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) from working properly.1

Obesity isn’t a concern reserved for women, however. For men, being overweight or obese also can cause hormonal changes that reduce fertility.2

If you or your partner are overweight, discuss your options for losing weight with your doctor. A multitude of studies show a clear link between infertility and obesity in women.1 Reaching a healthy weight could help regulate your menstrual cycle and increase your chances of becoming pregnant.1

Talk with your health care team during your pre-pregnancy consultation about how your weight may affect your ability to get pregnant. Your doctor may have suggestions about how to reach your weight goals safely while you try to become pregnant. Every couple’s health situation is different, so it’s important to discuss your personal situation and make a plan with help from your doctor.

Supporting your weight goals throughout pre-pregnancy and beyond

Getting to a healthy weight could also have a positive effect on your pregnancy and the health of your baby. Women who are pregnant and obese have a higher risk of delivering a baby with heart defects, type 2 diabetes and neural tube defects such as spina bifida.1

Nutrition is an important part of overall health and well-being at every stage of your journey, from pre-pregnancy to breastfeeding. A daily prenatal vitamin can help you meet nutritional goals as you work toward reaching your ideal weight and throughout the time that you are trying to become pregnant.

Folic acid is especially important for women who are trying to become pregnant. Since neural tube development and closure is completed by 28 days (four weeks) after conception, it’s crucial for women who are trying to become pregnant to build reserves of this important vitamin.3

Each nutritional supplement from the Prenate® Vitamin Family meets or exceeds the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for folic acid4 in addition to providing marine-based DHA to support the overall health of both moms and babies. Talk with your doctor about whether a prescription prenatal vitamin from the Prenate® Vitamin Family may be right for you.

THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.

REFERENCES: 1. Weight, fertility, and pregnancy. Office of Women’s Health Website. Retrieved from https://www.womenshealth.gov/healthy-weight/weight-fertility-and-pregnancy. Accessed December 20, 2018. 2. Obesity Takes Toll on Sperm and Fertility. (2004, October 22). Retrieved January 23, 2019, from https://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/news/20041022/obesity-takes-toll-on-sperm-fertility#1. 3. Cavalli P. Prevention of Neural Tube Defects and proper folate periconceptional supplementation. J Prenat Med. 2008;2(4):40-1. 4. Women & Folic Acid | CDC. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/recommendations.html. Accessed December 20, 2019.

*Most eligible patients will pay no more than $10 per copay. For each Prenate® prescription, pay the first $10 of your out-of-pocket expense and Prenate® will cover up to $75 of your remaining expense. You could have additional responsibility depending on your insurance plan or remaining expense. This offer is good for 12 uses.

**Patients pay as little as $45 cash for a 30-day supply or $120 cash for a 90-day supply by ordering through Glendale Pharmacy. Glendale Pharmacy offers free standard shipping on all prescriptions to select states. Click here to confirm if Glendale delivers to your state. Glendale Pharmacy also accepts health insurance in select states, which may reduce your out-of-pocket cost even further. Click here to confirm if Glendale accepts insurance in your state.

Not valid for patient covered under Medicaid, Medicare or similar state or federal programs. Not valid in any state where prohibited by law.

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IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: Accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6. Keep this product out of reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, call a doctor or poison control center immediately.

WARNING: Ingestion of more than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (such as DHA) per day has been shown to have potential antithrombotic effects, including an increased bleeding time and International Normalized Ratio (INR). Administration of omega-3 fatty acids should be avoided in patients taking anticoagulants and in those known to have an inherited or acquired predisposition to bleeding.

This site and its contents are an information resource only, and are neither intended to nor should be used in replacement of your doctor or other prescribing professional’s medical guidance, recommendations or advice. Neither this site nor its information should be used or relied upon for any diagnostic, medical, treatment, nutritional or other purpose. All aspects of pregnancy, including whether pregnancy is right for you, and the nourishment and care of your child, should be made with your doctor and other appropriate medical professional, and in consideration of your and your child’s particular medical history. Avion Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Avion”) makes no representation, warranty or other undertaking that this site or its information are appropriate for you or your child’s specific needs or issues, and further expressly disclaims all damages, losses, injuries or liability whatsoever incurred or alleged to have been incurred in consequence of your reliance on the information on this site. Avion does not endorse any test, procedure, treatment, remedy, therapy, cure, nutritional regimen, method or other activity or undertaking that you and/or your doctor or other medical professional may elect or recommend. By visiting this site you agree to these terms and conditions and acknowledge that you have read and understand the same. These terms and conditions, together with any information on this site, may be amended, restated or otherwise changed from time to time and at any time by Avion within the sole, absolute and uncontrolled exercise of its discretion. You acknowledge and agree that Avion has no duty or obligation to keep you informed of any amendments to, restatements of or other changes to these terms and conditions or this site, and that you are solely and exclusively responsible for apprising yourself of the same.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

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WARNING: Accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6. Keep this product out of reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, call a doctor or poison control center immediately.

WARNING: Ingestion of more than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (such as DHA) per day has been shown to have potential antithrombotic effects, including an increased bleeding time and International Normalized Ratio (INR). Administration of omega-3 fatty acids should be avoided in patients taking anticoagulants and in those known to have an inherited or acquired predisposition to bleeding.

This site and its contents are an information resource only, and are neither intended to nor should be used in replacement of your doctor or other prescribing professional’s medical guidance, recommendations or advice. Neither this site nor its information should be used or relied upon for any diagnostic, medical, treatment, nutritional or other purpose. All aspects of pregnancy, including whether pregnancy is right for you, and the nourishment and care of your child, should be made with your doctor and other appropriate medical professional, and in consideration of your and your child’s particular medical history. Avion Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Avion”) makes no representation, warranty or other undertaking that this site or its information are appropriate for you or your child’s specific needs or issues, and further expressly disclaims all damages, losses, injuries or liability whatsoever incurred or alleged to have been incurred in consequence of your reliance on the information on this site. Avion does not endorse any test, procedure, treatment, remedy, therapy, cure, nutritional regimen, method or other activity or undertaking that you and/or your doctor or other medical professional may elect or recommend. By visiting this site you agree to these terms and conditions and acknowledge that you have read and understand the same. These terms and conditions, together with any information on this site, may be amended, restated or otherwise changed from time to time and at any time by Avion within the sole, absolute and uncontrolled exercise of its discretion. You acknowledge and agree that Avion has no duty or obligation to keep you informed of any amendments to, restatements of or other changes to these terms and conditions or this site, and that you are solely and exclusively responsible for apprising yourself of the same.

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