'Absolutely barbaric': Why fertility trend 'Trimester Zero' is raising alarm bells

Most women know that if they are planning to get pregnant, they should take some steps to improve the health of themselves and their unborn child.

According to reliable resources such as The Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne and NSW Health, these include taking a supplement containing folic acid to prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida; limiting alcohol, cigarettes and recreational drugs; chatting to a GP or healthcare provider about their overall health; and getting up-to-date with health screenings and vaccinations.

While all this sounds like common sense, a new trend known as Trimester Zero is seeing women go all-out in the lead-up to pregnancy ¨C and not everyone is happy about it.

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In fact, a leading fertility specialist has joined a fitness entrepreneur and influencer in calling out the practice for lacking scientific backing and causing 'mum guilt' before a baby is even conceived.

What is Trimester Zero?

Trimester Zero is a trending term coined on social media sites. TikTok in particular is a breeding ground, pardon the pun, for information on preconception advice, where it is primarily known as TTC, which stands for "trying to conceive".

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It is part of an equally concerning trend distributing information about contraception and 'natural' birth control methods.

?There are three recognised trimesters of pregnancy, each lasting three months.

The first trimester refers to conception to 12 weeks, while the second trimester is 13-27 weeks and the third trimsester is 28-40 weeks.

'Trimester Zero' refers to the three months, or even longer, prior to conception, and focuses on optimising the health of both partners, but in particular women, in the belief taking various steps will increase the quality of their eggs, making it easier to achieve a successful pregnancy.

Some involve drastic lifestyle changes, such as avoiding certain foods and even wearing nail polish.

But here is the kicker: Most of the the information on TikTok around conception and health in general is delivered by people who do not have any qualifications. ?

This has led to warnings the fixation with Trimester Zero could be harmful to women, and their mental health.

Among those speaking out is ?fitness entrepreneur and influencer Steph Claire Smith, who created the Kic app with friend and business partner Laura Henshaw in 2018.

The mother of two, who co-hosts the KICPOD podcast, is vocal about the pressure placed on new mums, and called out the Trimester Zero trend on her podcast earlier this week.

She said she had been alarmed by the amount of preconception advice popping up on her social media feeds from people "with no credentials behind them and no legitimate background evidence".

"It's now blown up to not just, 'Oh, you're thinking about having a baby? ... Maybe don't smoke'," she said.

"It's ?not like that. It's, 'You're thinking about one day maybe conceiving? Years ahead, here's all these things that you can prep to make sure it all goes smoothly'."

Smith, who called out those charging women hundreds or thousands of dollars for preconception programs, went on to list "some of the things that people have been told to believe".

"Stopping wearing nail polish?, avoid drinking iced beverages. One woman eats liver every week," she began.

"Another mother became fixated on her blood sugar and worried spikes would increase her risk of miscarriage so she started using a... glucose monitor and stopped drinking orange juice and eating bananas."

Smith said another woman gave up wearing perfume while another stopped using a personal trainer "because they heard if you work out too hard, the egg won't implant".

She also said a dietitian specialising in fertility said ?women were going to her for advice on how to "optimise their microbiome before passing it onto their babies".

Smith, who also goes by her married name Miller, then spoke about the toll this would take on those trying to conceive.

"What about the people who are trying everything? They've been trying to conceive for years," she said.

"They are going to try all these things, tick all these boxes and they're still having trouble. How heavy that must feel?

"It just makes me so angry that there is just, again, this new added pressure on women before they've even conceived... It's absolutely barbaric."

Co-host Henshaw then agreed. "This is what we do as a society to women. We target us in our most vulnerable state." ?

?So is preparing for pregnancy even necessary, and if so, how far do we need to go?

Michael Chapman is a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University of NSW and a leading fertility specialist.

He said while it was helpful to prepare for pregnancy by following the guidelines set out on websites such as NSW Health, women in general did not need to make any other major lifestyle changes.

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"Being as healthy as possible is recommended when you are planning a pregnancy and that means all the usual things, such as giving up smoking and losing weight," Professor Chapman said.

"As long as you have a good diet, ?you won't need supplements, apart from the ones we recommend. ?There is no need to manipulate your diet or exercise."

He said many of the claims being peddled on social media lacked any scientific evidence.

"There's lots of claims but no science to back it," he said.?

"There is no evidence whatsoever that anything can change the outcome for children in relation to the microbiome."

Professor Chapman said only three things were scientifically proven to affect the health of the egg: age, smoking and obesity.

"?One hundred per cent, the most important thing that affects egg quality is age," he said.

"The scientific evidence is that you cannot improve egg quality."

He said egg quality was optimum between the ages of 25 and 35, when it starts to decline rapidly.

"Fertility rates decrease over time because people make the decision to have babies later," he said.

He said the information being peddled as part of the Trimester Zero trend was damaging to a woman's mental health. ?

"It's making people feel, 'I had a miscarriage, it must be my fault'," he said.

"But miscarriage occurred 100 years ago. The miscarriage rate is not increasing. It is the same as it was 50 years ago." ?

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