Dr. Lara Oboler, a New York City cardiologist, was in her mid-30s when she and her husband decided they were ready for their first child. But after six months of struggling to conceive, she was frustrated and confused. Eventually she read a book that recommended women take a mucolytic (a drug found in some cough syrups) for the 5 days leading up to ovulation, so she decided it was worth a try.
“As a physician, I thought, ‘Ok, this makes medical sense,'” she says of the drug, which thins out the cervical mucus and helps facilitate conception. “And I found out I was pregnant while sitting in the infertility specialist’s office for my first and only visit.”
Oboler conceived her next two children after taking a mucolytic, and she knew she’d found a mission. “I realized I wanted to help all women trying to conceive,” she says.
With the help of her sister-in-law Marjorie Jaffe Goldner, who had similar infertility issues, Oboler founded PregPrep. The New York-based company offers natural products that promote fertility and conception. “We wanted to do something to help women who wanted to improve their chances without serious medical intervention,” Jaffe Goldner says.
PregPrep’s Make That Baby Kit ($48), which launched in August, contains three items that are intended to work together: a two-month supply of FertilPrep (a dietary supplement made with a mucolytic), VitaMelts (a prenatal vitamin) and Essential Balance Bath Oil (with fertility-enhancing essential oils).
“For me, getting pregnant the first time became harder whenever someone would say, ‘Just relax,'” Oboler says. “Not only did that phrase make me more anxious, but it also made me feel that I was doing something wrong, that I was to blame for not getting pregnant. Trying to get pregnant can be incredibly anxiety-provoking. One of the reasons we created PregPrep was to take some of that anxiety out of the equation by empowering women to take control of their conception.”
PregPrep’s Marjorie Jaffe Goldner and Dr. Lara Oboler
