Longing for a little one? If you've decided to take the step into motherhood you'll need to make sure you're body is up to the job. Think of it as preparing the soil before you plant your seed...

Maintaining a healthy diet doesn't only improve your chances of conceiving, its also vital for the development of your baby after conception.

We're not talking calorie reduction or drastic diets as that can cause more harm than good. The important consideration here is to make sure you're getting all the vital nutrients needed for a healthier you, a successful conception and a healthy, happy baby.

You can optimise your fertility with a healthy diet. A well-functioning liver and the right vitamins and minerals will help your body achieve the optimum hormone balance for making babies.

De-stress your Liver

The liver plays an important part in ensuring the hormone balance needed for fertility is maintained. It's responsible for cleansing your body of toxins and harmful additives. Some toxins may be consumed voluntarily; caffeine, alcohol, medicinal and recreational drugs, whilst others are consumed passively; second-hand tobacco smoke and environmental toxins such as car fumes and pesticides on foods.

Over-consumption of toxins can stress the liver causing it to become less effective at detoxifying the body. De-stress your liver by giving it a break from ingredients that overwork it. These include:

• Alcohol
• caffeine
• salt
• sugar
• red meats
• dairy products
• white bread, pasta and rice
• Foods high in refined carbohydrates such as cakes and biscuits.

Digest this

Once your hormones have finished their tasks they are absorbed into the bloodstream, filtered out by the liver and then expelled through the digestive system (which is why pregnancy tests use urine). In order for this process to be successful, a high fibre diet and a healthy liver are vital. Foods high in fibre include:

• Potato skins
• wholemeal pasta and bread
• wholegrain cereal
• fruit and vegetables