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Stress and Infertility – Does stress cause infertility
Stress and Infertility
The claim that stress causes infertility has long been controversial—and sometimes spurious. Hawkers of meditation, massage, acupuncture, yoga, foot reflexology, and chiropractic have tried to convince despondent women that they need to chill out to become pregnant. Doctors acknowledge that such relaxation techniques make women feel calmer, but they’ve largely dismissed their efficacy in increasing the chances of bringing home a baby.
But two exceptions to that rule are gaining scientific credibility: acupuncture and a popular mind-body program, which holds that a woman’s emotions affect her physical health. In the case of the latter, a randomized controlled study presented last month at the annual conference of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that about half of the 21 women who attended multi-week mind-body sessions, consisting of stress management exercises and cognitive behavioral therapy, became pregnant through in vitro fertilization—compared with about one-fifth of the 20 women who didn’t participate. It’s not exactly clear why the comforting mix of group support, nature imagery, and focus on changing negative thought patterns (from “I’ll never have a baby” to “I’m doing everything I can to have a baby,” for example) helped women conceive. But here’s a clue: The patients who were the most depressed at the beginning of the study—and had the most opportunity to improve—emerged with the highest pregnancy rates.
Related Resources:
- What is Secondary Infertility
- Infertility Treatments – How do we treat infertility?
- The causes of infertility in women?
- Is infertility just a woman’s issue?
- What is infertility
