MVXGRP Health Journal
Evidence-informed guidance on fertility, IVF, pregnancy, and women’s wellness.
Breastfeeding Nutrition: What Actually Matters Breastfeeding increases caloric needs by approximately 300–500 kcal daily above pre-pregnancy maintenance requirements. Unlike pregnancy, where some maternal stores buffer nutritional intake, breastmilk composition for iodine, vitamin D, choline,
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Recovery Nutrition After Birth Postpartum nutrition is often overlooked, yet the mother's recovery from birth — including blood loss, tissue healing, hormonal transition, and potentially surgical recovery after caesarean — requires active nutritional support.
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The Third Trimester: When Fetal Growth Is Most Intensive The third trimester (weeks 27–40) is the most nutritionally demanding phase of pregnancy. The fetus more than doubles in weight between 28 and 40 weeks.
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Energy and Growth Demands in the Second Trimester The second trimester (weeks 13–26) is typically the most physically comfortable period of pregnancy. Nausea usually resolves, energy returns, and appetite normalises or increases. Fetal growth
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Miscarriage: Physical and Nutritional Recovery Pregnancy loss results in blood loss and often requires physical recovery before further conception attempts are safe or advisable. Most clinicians advise waiting for at least one normal menstrual
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Preparing the Uterus: What Nutrition Can and Cannot Do The uterine lining (endometrium) is primarily prepared by estrogen and progesterone — either from a natural cycle or through medication. Nutrition supports the overall environment
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Why IVF Stimulation Weeks Demand a Specific Nutrition Strategy During ovarian stimulation, follicles grow rapidly in both number and size, dramatically increasing the metabolic demands on the ovary. Protein is the primary building block
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Sleep, Hormones, and the Reproductive Axis FSH and LH are released in pulses during sleep, and the sleep-wake cycle gates their secretion. Studies of women undergoing IVF found that those sleeping fewer than 7
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Why Constipation Is So Common in Pregnancy Two main drivers: progesterone and iron supplements. Progesterone relaxes smooth muscle throughout the gastrointestinal tract, slowing intestinal motility and roughly doubling transit time. Iron supplements — particularly
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Blood Pressure in Pregnancy: What Is Normal and When Is It Concerning Blood pressure naturally decreases in the first and second trimesters (due to progesterone-driven vasodilation) and rises again in the third trimester. A
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