Welcome to Baby Ready Health

Your Fertility Field Guide and Preconception Playbook

Here we move past ovulation kits, trackers and prenatals into the art and science of preconception: not just the lead-up to trying, but a window of potential, where the way you live begins shaping fertility, pregnancy and the health of future generations.

Whether you’ve already decided or are still circling the idea. Whether you’re a planner or someone who wanted to be pregnant yesterday, this is your runway. A place to learn how to understand and support your fertility, so you can move toward what you’re ultimately hoping for: a healthy baby who thrives in life.

Yes, we cover food, lifestyle and environment. And you probably already know that being healthy helps you get pregnant: that eating well, sleeping well and managing stress matter. That hormones need balance. That toxins and plastics can interfere. But how do all those things actually connect to your ability to conceive, grow a baby and give them the best start? And, more importantly, what can you do about it?

What you eat, how you move, the world around you, your stress, your sleep - all of it sends messages. Not just to your hormones, but to your cells. To your genes. To your microbes. Which in turn influence your fertility and help shape the biological blueprint you pass on. Speaking of which...

Beyond DNA – Most Genes Aren’t Set in Primordial Stone

When you think about what you’ll pass on, you’re probably thinking genes, and hoping they get your good ones (those beautiful blue eyes), not the so-called bad ones.

But most genes aren’t carved in primordial stone. They have jobs: balancing hormones, regulating inflammation, supporting detoxification and orchestrating countless other biological processes, including recreating every fibre of your being on a daily basis

And before you pass them on, they’re already working on your fertility, and influencing conception and pregnancy outcomes. We, in turn, can powerfully influence how well they do those jobs. Our food, lifestyle and environment ‘talk’ to our genes, affecting how effectively they function and manage your fertility.

Your Genetic Legacy

So yes, genes are part of your biological legacy. But that legacy isn’t fixed. You’re not just handing over a static blueprint, you’re passing on how well they function. We call that gene expression. This means you're not just passing down traits, but tendencies: how well your offspring handles stress, responds to their environment, metabolises nutrients or maintains hormonal balance.

Your Other Baby-Making Partner

While you and your partner (if they’re even in your orbit) get down to the business of baby-making, let’s talk about the other one: the multitude of microbes inhabiting every nook and cranny of your body.

They coat your skin, with different microbial populations gathering in curious places: your belly button, behind your ears, your eyelashes, nipples and perineal skin. From the mouth to the south, they take up residence in your gut, airways and reproductive system.

Together, they form your microbiome: a living ecosystem that regulates hormones, mood, metabolism, immunity and importantly, fertility.

Your Conception Companion

You can’t make babies without your bugs by your side. These microbes patrol your vagina, help usher sperm to the finish line and play many other behind-the-scenes roles that support fertility and overall reproductive health.

So yes, when it comes to making a baby, it’s not just the two of you.

Your Microbes Are a Family Heirloom

Your microbes don’t just live and work with you. You pass them on. Your baby’s early microbial settlers help train the immune system, influence metabolism, support brain development and more, in ways that echo well into adulthood.

Your Child’s Real Inheritance

Put aside houses and trust funds for a moment. What you’re really passing on is your genes and microbes and how well they function.

Both systems respond to daily signals: the food you eat, how you move and sleep, your stress levels, your environment, your exposure to light and dark and even the air you breathe and the water you drink.

The Stuff That Gets in the Way

Even when you’re making sound food and lifestyle choices, some things sneak in without your knowledge, let alone your consent.

And without wanting to end on a downer, it’s worth saying this too: the ubiquity of toxins in and around us unfortunately also influences fertility and the legacy we pass on.

You’re probably hearing more about them lately. Forever chemicals. Endocrine disruptors. The substances that show up in everything from plastics to perfumes to polluted waterways.

They’re hard to avoid completely. But minimising toxin transfer (yeah, it happens) matters. We can’t eliminate them all, but we reduce the load and move them out. And there’s no better opportunity to do that than during preconception.

Vitality & The Spark of Life

What is fertility, really, if not an expression of life force? A force fuelled by how your body makes, moves and manages energy, powered by the everyday signals from food, lifestyle and environment:

Food feeds it.

Rhythms tune it: circadian, hormonal and seasonal.

It’s powered by light.

It’s charged by your mitochondria, the microscopic batteries inside your cells, passed down from your mother and her mother before her.

These systems don’t just sustain life, they spark it. Life begins when egg and sperm meet, and that moment is electrical, literally.

So when we talk about vitality, we’re not just talking about whether you have enough energy to get through the day. We’re talking about the role your vitality plays in fertility and the energy you pass on.

Preconception is where the next generation’s health begins. Let’s get started...

To Ponder While Your Coffee Percolates

• You’re not just passing on genes. You’re passing on how well they work.

• Your microbes matter: they co-pilot fertility and are a baby’s first settlers.

• Toxins aren’t just out there, they’re in here and they interfere.

• Food, environment and rhythm are levers; what they influence is generational.

• Fertility is vitality: metabolic, rhythmic, electric.

Curious to know more? Head to the About page for why I started Baby Ready Health and a bit about me.

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Warmly, Sonja

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Thanks for helping thoughtful fertility conversations travel further. 🤍

This post is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified practitioner before making decisions about your health.