Dealing with infertility can be stressful, both mentally and emotionally. In another way, infertility often causes stress.
But is it also the other way around? To date, there are no studies clearly stating a causal connection between stress and fertility. However, an American study of 400 women showed that stress could have a negative effect on fertility during the fertile window. Scientists achieved these results after adjusting for age, body mass index, alcohol use and frequency of intercourse.
What do these results mean?
On the one hand, the incidence of stress appears to be limited in time. The study shows that the chances of conceiving are higher in the months perceived as less stressful but without apparent long-term effects. On the other hand, however, the numbers reveal that appropriate stress management with the help of professionals or targeted techniques could increase the chances of conception.
A second more recent American study analyzed the relationship between the odds of conception and female stress. Stress was calculated on a scale from 0 to 40, where 0 indicates an absence of perceived stress. More than 4,700 women participated in the study, and each one of them was assigned a stress score. The researchers calculated that women with scores greater than 25 were 13% less likely to conceive than those with lower than 10.
The Unica team is fully aware of the role that stress can play in your journey towards pregnancy. That is why we choose to take a holistic approach to the treatment, combining medical care with additional techniques to support your mental health.
