What Effects Can Stress Have On My Ability To Get Pregnant?

— -- Question: What effects can stress have on my ability to get pregnant?

Answer: Stress can affect fertility. And infertility is a problem in our country and of course it is extremely stressful. When a woman is wanting very much to have a child and can't become pregnant, that's probably one of the more stressful things that can happen to her.

The interesting thing is that there's a body of research that has been done by Alice Domar out of Harvard that shows that women who participate in mind body groups have increased fertility rates. These groups are usually eight weeks a month, they meet for an hour or two at a time, and they teach women a series of strategies to relax, to use imagery, to focus on all the things that are important to them in life and not so specifically on getting pregnant.

And the interesting results are that even women who have been through many high tech procedures, fertility rates are higher, successful completion of pregnancy rates are higher for the women who do these mind body exercises.

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