Neonatology ranked by U.S. News. Read more Dr. F. Sessions Cole,
Director of Newborn Medicine and Chief Medical Officer at St.
Louis Children's Hospital, offers a Preconception Checklist for
families trying to conceive. Following these steps toward a
healthy lifestlye increases the chances of becoming pregnant,
and of delivering a healthy baby. 1. Control your weight. Get as
close to your ideal weight as possible. Being seriously
overweight or underweight can predispose your baby to birth
defects such as cleft palate and diabetes. 2. Stop smoking, and
avoid secondhand smoke. While the body cleanses itself of many
harmful substances from smoke in days, some are stored in fat
and take longer to eliminate. Smoking is associated with
prematurity and low birthweights, increased risk of Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and asthma. 3. Stop drinking
alcohol. As with smoking, the body stores some harmful
substances in fat and can take a month or more to eliminate
them. Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause serious defec