About Fertility
Does Stress Impact Your Ability to Conceive Naturally?
The majority of patients trying to conceive report some degree of stress. Both infertility itself and the treatment required to overcome it can be incredibly stressful. Understandably, patients worry that stress may be adversely impacting their probability of success. Many patients come to us asking, “Does stress impact your ability to conceive naturally?” Previous studies on this subject have been mixed, largely because it is difficult to accurately measure stress.
Does Stress Cause Infertility?
A recent study of 444 women measured allostatic load, which is an indicator of chronic stress. Allostatic load reflects multi-system physiological changes that occur in response to chronic psychosocial stress, including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, plasma cortisol, noradrenaline, interleukin-6, hypersensitive C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and body mass index. These authors investigated the association between pre-pregnancy allostatic load and time of pregnancy. They found that women with higher allostatic load scores took longer to conceive than women with lower scores.
These results suggest that stress may interfere with natural conception. While further investigation is required, stress reduction is strongly encouraged for patients trying to conceive (although difficult to achieve sometimes). Some interventions that may help with stress relief include: acupuncture, massage, meditation, yoga, exercise, proper sleep hygiene, and group or individual therapy. At Fertility Centers of New England, we encourage all our patients to reduce stress as much as possible and can help you find the best solution to meet your needs.
We Can Help
If you are having difficulty getting pregnant and have questions like does stress impact your ability to conceive naturally, we are here to help. Please contact us for a consultation!
Hong X, Yin J, Zhao F, et al. Female fecundability is associated with pre-pregnancy allostatic load: Analysis of a Chinese cohort. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2022;101:1300-1307.
