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Past Article of the Month
Originally Published 06/29/2006
STRESS AND INFERTILITY
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<b>STRESS & INFERTILITY</b>
How many times have you heard, You need to just relax and then youll get pregnant? Which makes you wonder, <i>how can I relax when I feel responsible for my body not working right? How can I relax when I have to shoot myself with countless hormones? How can I relax when having a baby, the most important thing in my life, is just out of reach and all I think about every day?</i>
The connection between stress and infertility has been talked about for years. Now, new research is suggesting that stress does impact infertility <b>but only for a specific syndrome.</b> Sara Berga, a professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University in Atlanta, studied women who stopped ovulating (a condition called anovulation) because of stress. The good news, suggested by these preliminary results, is that with psychological help, women were able to control their reaction to stress and reverse their condition. (For a full report, click on http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060620/hl_afp/healthfertilitywomen)
What is critical to remember is that <b>stress is not the only factor underlying infertility</b>. There are many physiological causes of infertility (such as blocked tubes, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), old eggs, endometriosis). To assume that reducing stress will be a cure-all for all causes of infertility puts so much burden on you perhaps even adding to your stress!
This is not to say that reducing your stress is not a good thing. Quite the opposite you will feel better and be able to cope better with all the challenges of infertility if you can lessen the tensions in your life. Not only does psychotherapy help, but exercise, yoga, and meditation are also great ways to keep a lid on the strains that infertility puts on your sense of self, your relationships, your work and goals.
And remember, women have gotten pregnant under some of the most stressful conditions possible: in war, during famine and blight, and when raped. The take home message try not to beat yourself up. Its not all your fault.
<i>Questions? Comments? Wed love to hear from you! Click on Contact Us to send us an e-mail.</i>
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