What with all this talk about babies, I thought that I should talk a little bit about related nutrition. Let’s start with preconception. Provided you’ve actually made the conscious choice to conceive, both of you need to think about your nutrition. It’s not just about cutting out alcohol and it starts months before conception. What a man eats affects sperm production quality. If you want a good product, it just makes sense to use the best ingredients. There’s enough pressure on the woman to do things right, the man needs to assume some responsibility here too. Potential dads: if you want to make a better baby then make sure your diet includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruits and consider cutting out alcohol. Exercise is also important. The healthier you are, the healthier your baby will be, both at birth and years down the road. The other thing that really annoys me is hearing women say that they’re “eating for two.” Or using pregnancy as an excuse to eat loads of high calorie, low nutrient foods. You’re not eating for two! Your foetus is tiny. You do not need to double or triple your caloric intake during pregnancy. Sure, if you have a craving, go ahead and indulge yourself, but do so with the same restraint that you would if you were not carrying a small person around inside you. Also, there is an increasing body of research showing that what you eat during pregnancy can affect your child’s health throughout their entire lives. Check out the study of nutrigenomics if you’re interested in learning more about how nutrition can affect gene expression. Sure, it’s a lot of pressure, but you are responsible for this unborn person’s future. It is a lot of pressure.