Before You Get Pregnant: A One-Page Checklist

Planning a pregnancy? Your health before you get pregnant can affect your baby’s health, and a few steps early on make a difference. This checklist combines the CDC’s planning steps with the nutrition steps from our articles. Print it, check items off, and bring it to your preconception visit.

1. See your doctor or midwife

The CDC says to talk with your provider about your health before you try. Bring the list.

• Talk about any health conditions you have, and how to keep them under control.
• Review every medicine you take: prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, and vitamins. Don’t stop a medicine on your own.
• Ask whether any medicine you take affects folate, such as methotrexate or certain seizure medicines.
• Check which vaccines you need, and whether you’re up to date.
• Talk about your lifestyle and habits, including alcohol, smoking, and drug use.
• If you’ve had a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect, ask about a higher dose of folic acid. The CDC recommends 4,000 mcg a day, under a doctor’s care.

2. Start the right nutrients

• Take 400 mcg of folic acid every day, starting at least 1 month before you try, as the CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend. See When to Start Taking Prenatal Vitamins.
• Choose a prenatal vitamin and read the label for folic acid, iron (about 27 mg), iodine (about 150 mcg), and choline. See Prenatal Vitamin Questions, Answered.
• Look for an independent testing seal from USP, NSF, or ConsumerLab.
• Eat folate-rich foods, such as leafy greens, beans, oranges, and fortified cereal. See Foods High in Folate.
• If you eat little or no animal food, make a plan for B12, iron, iodine, and choline. See Vegan and Vegetarian Prenatal Vitamins.
• Learn the fish rules: eat lower-mercury fish, and skip the 7 high-mercury ones. See DHA and Omega-3s in Pregnancy.
• Skip raw or undercooked eggs, meat, fish, and shellfish once you’re pregnant. See Are Eggs Safe During Pregnancy?.

3. Build healthy habits

• Stop drinking alcohol, smoking, and using certain drugs. These can cause problems in pregnancy, such as premature birth, birth defects, and infant death, according to the CDC. For help quitting smoking, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669).
• Be active in ways you enjoy, such as a walk at lunch.
• Look after your mood. If you feel anxious or down and it doesn’t ease, talk with your provider.

Questions to ask at your preconception visit

• Are my health conditions under control for pregnancy?
• Do any of my medicines or supplements need to change before I try?
• Which vaccines should I have before pregnancy?
• Which prenatal vitamin should I take, and do I need anything extra, such as iodine, choline, B12, or DHA?
• Is there anything in my family history, or my partner’s, that I should know about?

Things you don’t need to worry about

• An MTHFR test. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics advises against routine testing, and the CDC says people with a common variant can still use folic acid. See MTHFR and Folic Acid.
• A special diet. A balanced diet plus a prenatal vitamin covers most women. Ask your provider if you have a restricted diet.

Not trying yet?

Take the folic acid anyway. About half of U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, and folic acid protects the baby in the first weeks, often before you know you’re pregnant. The CDC recommends 400 mcg a day for anyone who could become pregnant.

Related reading

• Choline in Pregnancy: How Much You Need and Where to Get It
• Vitamin D in Pregnancy: How Much You Need and How to Get It
• Iodine in Pregnancy: How Much You Need and Why
• Calcium in Pregnancy: How Much You Need and Where to Get It

Sources

• Planning for Pregnancy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (talking with your provider, folic acid, alcohol, smoking, and drugs)
• Pregnancy Planner, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• About Folic Acid, CDC, updated September 2026
• Folic Acid Supplementation to Prevent Neural Tube Defects, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2023
• Dietary Supplements and Life Stages: Pregnancy, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, updated October 2026
• ACMG Practice Guideline: lack of evidence for MTHFR polymorphism testing, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Genetics in Medicine, 2013

Updated November 2026. This article is for general information and is not a substitute for advice from your health care provider.