How Stress Effects The Chances Of Getting Pregnant

For some couples, conceiving a child can be extremely difficult for a variety of reasons. One of the most common reasons is stress.

Stress is a difficult thing to cope with when trying to conceive because it turns into a vicious cycle: If one party is stressed when trying to conceive, chances of pregnancy will lower, therefore resulting in even more stress. If you are experiencing trouble getting pregnant and think it might be related to stress, keep reading for more information.

What Happens To The Body When It Is Under Stress?

“Pregnancy Stress Syndrome” is a condition that prevents you from getting pregnant as well as creates problems and complications during pregnancy (mostly, miscarriages). When facing these high levels of stress, the brain will signal your nervous system and your body’s hormones to battle. This causes an imbalance in your body’s hormone systems.

How Does This Affect Pregnancy?

Higher levels of stress that last for a long period of time causes the body to do the following things, all of which drastically reduces the body from getting pregnant:

• Your uterine lining (responsible for sustaining a pregnancy) is weakened due to progesterone secretions
• Estrogen is reduced, which affects healthy follicle development and health
• Ovarian function is reduced, which affects healthy ovulation
• The immune system is weakened, which may lead to higher chance of miscarriage

How You Can Help?

There are a few simple things that you can do to help yourself deal with stress:

• Diet: eliminate refined sugar and processed food and incorporate more healthy fats such as avocados and nuts
• Stress Management: things such as massage therapy, yoga, and acupuncture can help to reduce stress
• Talk to Someone: whether you seek professional therapy help or even the comfort of family or friends, you should always talk to someone when you are feeling stressed

The most important thing to know if you are dealing with this problem is that you are not alone. Plenty of women and couples go through this issue and it is normal to feel the way that you are feeling. It is difficult to reduce stress, especially when it revolves around such an important landmark in your life, however it is possible.

If you are concerned about your potential inability to conceive due to high levels of stress, visit Dr. Cecilia Ho, naturopath in Pickering today. Call us at 905-492-8688 to book an appointment.