Pregnancy and Stress

Do you think that because you are stressed you do not get pregnant ? This is not necessarily so. There are some who affirm that there is an association between stress and the results of an assisted reproduction treatment , that is, that stress in a woman could affect her fertility, and consequently have worse results in an assisted reproduction treatment, but there are other authors who deny this association. We have evaluated 14 publications (meta-analysis) that together included more than 3,500 women with reproductive dysfunction and the conclusion is: emotional stress - whether due to fertility problems or other issues of life outside of reproductive dysfunction but occurring during an assisted reproduction treatment - does not compromise the percentages of getting pregnant ( Boivin et al.. 2011).  

This does not mean that the levels of depression achieved by women undergoing fertility treatments are not high, so much so that recently it has been reported that in 216 women in assisted reproduction treatment, 11.1% use antidepressants. However, only 3% of these patients reported to the anesthesiologist who used these medications.

Many women may feel guilty for thinking that being stressed, sad or depressed may affect the outcome of the treatment they are doing since that means that if they do not achieve a gestation is because they have collaborated in failure. But, as we have seen previously, this thinking may not be well-oriented or justified and the only thing that would be achieved would be to generate even more stress on the patient.

To reduce these feelings that cause discomfort in our patients, it is necessary for the professionals of the reproduction centers to advise their patients on the benefits of visiting the psychologists of the center to solve doubts and try to reduce these feelings, taking into account that very probably will not affect the outcome of the treatment.

People who suffer from stress during treatment should take into account:

1. If you are stressed, sad, and do not want anything, it is important to tell the doctor who is doing the reproduction treatment.

2. Request a consultation with the Unit of Psychology , designed to support, guide and clear concrete doubts that could hinder the smooth operation of the treatment, and not only for people who are ill.

3. Remember that being stressed will not necessarily affect the outcome of treatment .