months 1 – 3: take care, have fun!

Ideally, you and your partner have spent the past three or four months planning for pregnancy by doing everything you can to ensure the best possible conditions for your future baby. You’ve been eating a balanced diet, taking folic acid, and replacing unhealthy habits like smoking with healthy ones, such as regular exercise. Now you can be assured that if you’re lucky enough to get pregnant as soon as you stop birth control, you’ve given your developing baby the best start to life.

It can also help to get a refresher on just how the reproductive process works, as well as how her body and his body each contribute to the making of a baby.

stop your birth control

When you’re ready to conceive, how and when you stop your birth control will depend on what method you’re using. This chart acts as a guide:¹

If you are taking the pill, your healthcare provider may advise against stopping birth control mid-cycle. Some doctors also recommend using a barrier method (e.g., condom) until your periods are regular. This can make it easier for you to figure out when you conceive and predict a due date.

Using the pill for contraception, even for years, will not affect your fertility. It only takes some women longer to become pregnant after stopping the birth control pill (typically three months). On the flipside, just because you’ve never used hormonal birth control methods does not mean you will have an easier time conceiving.

make healthy lifestyle choices

Hopefully both you and your partner have already made some choices to eat healthy, reduce stress, exercise regularly and achieve a healthy weight. It is important to establish preconception health four months before conception, as that’s how long it takes for the egg to mature. But it remains important to maintain these healthy lifestyle changes during the first few months of trying to get pregnant, and beyond.

Even when actively trying, most women do not realize they’ve conceived until at least a few weeks into the pregnancy. It’s during these as-yet undetected first few weeks of pregnancy that critical cell growth and development takes place. Waiting until you know you’re pregnant to make healthy lifestyle changes means your baby will undergo its most critical growth and development in a suboptimal environment. So long as you’ve stopped birth control, grab a “virgin” cocktail instead, cut the caffeine and don’t light up.