When someone asks me about preparing for pregnancy on GAPS, I think about the time before the positive test. Learning to cook differently, finding food you can afford and understanding the books all take room in an ordinary family day. My advice is to begin that preparation 18 to 24 months ahead when possible. That is my own planning advice, separate from the timelines Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride gives in the books.
Our family story is part of why I care about making that distinction. We had years of secondary infertility before we ever started GAPS. We also had a later pregnancy on Full GAPS. Those belong to different parts of our history, and I want to keep both parts clear.
Our Infertility Story Began Before GAPS
We went through six to seven years of secondary infertility between our second and third children. We tried fertility medication and weight loss through keto and other extreme diets. Our third child was born in 2021. Our fourth and fifth children also arrived before we started GAPS.
We began GAPS in July 2024. That means GAPS did not end the infertility gap before our third child, and I do not credit it with that pregnancy. Starting the story with the dates matters more than making it fit a simpler before-and-after account.
Since starting GAPS, we have had one pregnancy: our sixth child, carried on Full GAPS and born in 2026. The secondary infertility has not returned. My PMOS, formerly called PCOS, and weight are managed, and my periods are steadier and less painful. These are the changes I have observed in my own life. They do not tell me why someone else is struggling to conceive.
If you would like the pregnancy part of our story, read what I ate during my sixth pregnancy on Full GAPS. Here, I want to stay with the preparation that can happen before pregnancy.
Why I Suggest Starting Early
My 18-to-24-month suggestion gives you time to read the GAPS books and Nourishing Traditions, understand what you are changing and work out how those changes fit your household. It is not a promise that a particular length of preparation produces a pregnancy, and it is not a reason to postpone a fertility appointment.
In my house, a food plan has to fit around homeschooling, six children and a second-shift job. We start a stock pot in the morning so stock or soup is available during the day. What goes into it varies with the budget, the time available and what is in the fridge. That is a repeatable household habit, rather than a perfect menu that depends on the same ingredients every week.
Preparation can begin with a small, concrete question: what would make the next week of home cooking easier? You might need a dependable meat-stock method, a place to buy the foods you use most or another adult who knows how to prepare a meal. Those are practical things to work on while learning the protocol.
I am describing how I approach preparation now. I am not saying that I completed an 18-to-24-month GAPS plan before our sixth pregnancy or used GAPS before the children who were born earlier.
Keep My Planning Advice Separate From the Book’s Timelines
The expanded Gut and Psychology Syndrome chapter gives two preconception paths. If neither partner has digestive problems, allergies, chronic fatigue or another typical GAPS condition, it recommends Full GAPS for four to five months before conception. If either parent, especially the mother, has a pronounced GAPS condition, it recommends the complete GAPS Nutritional Protocol until that parent is considerably healthier and feels ready for pregnancy.[1]
| Which Timeline? | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Four to five months | The book’s Full GAPS path for a couple without the named GAPS problems. |
| Until considerably healthier and ready | The book’s full-protocol path when either parent has a pronounced GAPS condition. |
| 18 to 24 months when possible | My advice for giving the learning, food sourcing and household preparation enough time. |
These are not three competing deadlines. My advice is about making space to prepare; the book’s distinction is about the starting situation. The Full GAPS Diet versus full protocol guide explains that decision without putting every couple on one calendar.
Both Parents Need a Workable Part in the Plan
The preconception chapter begins with both parents’ nutrition. It says the mother continues her healthy diet during pregnancy. The father does not necessarily have to continue then, although the author says continuing leaves him better able to support her.[1]
That gives you something useful to discuss together before pregnancy: who can cook, source food and help keep meals available? It does not require identical symptoms or identical daily responsibilities. Our preconception nutrition guide holds the detailed food plan, and the father’s gut-flora guide explains the separate microbial pathway described in the books.
Let the Food Guides Do Their Own Jobs
You do not need to reconstruct every food rule from our family story. Use the both-parent nutrition guide for daily meat stock, fats, fermented foods, liver and dairy distinctions. The 85 percent savory guide explains the meal pattern. The infertility guide covers Dr. Natasha’s hormonal explanation and fertility-specific FAQ recommendations.
This also keeps the newer stock guidance clear. The 2020 book distinguishes fresh meat stock from long-cooked bone broth and says bone broth should wait at least a year on GAPS, longer for some people. An older preconception passage using both names does not make them interchangeable.[2]
For the other preparation work, read reducing toxic exposure during pregnancy and preparing for pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. They keep home changes, rest, birth preparation and feeding support in their proper places.
If You Are Already Pregnant
You have not missed the chance to learn how the diet works. The expanded book directs an already-pregnant woman to Full GAPS and says new fermented foods should be introduced gradually.[1] Our pregnancy and breastfeeding starting guide explains that route.
Do not try to make my preferred preparation window fit a pregnancy that has already begun. Start with the current situation, food you can actually eat and the support you need now.
A Note About PMOS and PCOS
PMOS means polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name introduced in May 2026 for the condition previously called polycystic ovary syndrome. You may still see PCOS on records and in the older GAPS sources. I use both terms here so you can connect my story with the name you know.[3]
Make the Next Step Manageable
If you are at the beginning, read the both-parent nutrition guide together and choose one household habit to make easier. You do not have to solve food sourcing, cooking and every home change in one weekend.
The course Preparing for Baby: A GAPS Preconception Plan for Both Parents brings that preparation together in the WFLI Shop. My hope is that you can use the time before pregnancy to understand the choices and build support around them, with enough room for the family life you already have.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Psychology Syndrome, expanded edition, “The Pre-Conception Period and Pregnancy,” preserved in the expanded second German edition (2015), pp. 402–407.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Meat Stock and Soups,” current meat-stock and bone-broth timing distinction.
- Monash University. Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome: New Name, May 13, 2026.
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