What should I do before getting pregnant if I have frequent headaches?

Medication choices need to change with pregnancy to make sure you minimize risks to your baby. Before you start trying to get pregnant, you should talk to your doctor about your headache treatment. You will need to:

• Learn about safe and effective non-drug treatments that you can
         use to control headaches throughout your pregnancy and
         after delivery.
• Make sure the headache medications you are using are safe for
         you to take when trying to get pregnant and throughout
         pregnancy. This reduces risks to the baby if you become
         pregnant while taking the medications.
• Try to get your headache pattern under as good control as
         possible before you become pregnant.
• Talk to your doctor before using any non-prescription medications
         and supplements to make sure they are safe during
         pregnancy.
• Take a multivitamin with at least 400 micrograms of folate every
         day. This helps to prevent spinal cord defects.

Remember that there are many safe and effective non-drug and drug treatments for you to use throughout pregnancy. Making treatment changes before you become pregnant is the best way to provide the safest treatments for your developing baby and to make sure you have an effective treatment regimen in place to adequately control your headaches.