Preconception exams?

[alexandrapm]

Hello!

I hope you are all doing great!

I am very new at all of this so please bear with me if i don't use the terms properly :D

I would like to start to TTC next month. I am going to my GP on Thursday and I want to ask her for all the "official" preconception exams but I was wondering if there is such a thing? A friend told me about the Toxoplasmosis one but she lives in Spain so it is a complete different medical system. I am doing my research but there is so much information and I have little time tomorrow...I just want to make sure I go to the GP prepared to ask her (and insist if necessary) for specific exams. Any info about which exams I should ask for would be truly appreciated. Also, if there are any that are not covered by the NHS but I should get. Thank you!

Alex

I went for a check up before ttc and they honestly didn't do

(oops pressed enter before finishing) Anyway they didn't do much. They took my blood pressure and checked my weight and then just checked my files for anything else. They asked a few questions but think because am a fairly healthy 27yo there is no reason to do any tests unless we struggle ttc.
Then the doc just went through what foods I should avoid when pg and how to get myself in prime condition for ttc. They also told me if I could I should come off my pill for a few months before trying as it makes your cycle settle so it can be easier to understand it.
All in all I actually found it a bit pointless as i knew everything they told me, but i am a planner so felt better for doing it.

It's not usual to have pre-ttc checks here. You could ask to have your rubella immunity checked if you want, but that would be about it.

The recommendation is to start folic acid 90 days before you start trying, so if you are not on that already, that would be something you can do now.

I asked if they did rubella immunity tests, because I have only had 1 MMR vaccin as a child, but the GP just told me to get another one to ensure immunity is good. Only thing is, you have to then wait a month before ttc.

All I did was make sure I was up to date with my smears and started taking folic acid. Good luck :)