We Can Use Hypnosis to Help with IVF treatments

Below is an article regarding the study of how stress management increases successful IVF treatments. It is know that stress can cause spasm of the fallopian tubes and influences the pituitary gland.

I have had much success with my clients using hypnosis to relieve anxiety and fear of becoming pregnant and various emotional issues that may lead to this anxiety.

Below is the article:

Stress Reduction May Improve IVF Success Rate

http://www.redorbit .com/news/ health/1771631/ stress_reduction _may_improve_ ivf_success_ rate/

Posted on: Monday, 19 October 2009, 14:30 CDT

A new study by doctors in Massachusetts finds that relaxation and stress management may actually work to help some women become pregnant.

Women hoping to get pregnant have long been told to relax and stop worrying about it, but not all obstetricians and gynecologists agreed with that advice.

But the latest research, presented Monday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's 65th Annual Meeting, suggests the idea may actually have merit.

Alice Domar, who runs a fertility center in Boston and works at the Harvard Medical School, found that women who participated in a stress management program prior to or during their second in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle had a 160 percent greater pregnancy rate than those who did not take part in a program.

The research showed a pregnancy rate of 52 percent among women who participated in the program, versus a 20 percent pregnancy rate for those who did not.

The 10-session stress management program focused on educating women on the utilization of cognitive, relaxation and lifestyle techniques to manage stress.

The program had an even greater impact on pregnancy rates for women with higher baselines symptoms of depression at the beginning of the study. For those women, pregnancy rates spiked to 67 percent among those who took part in the stress reduction program, compared with no pregnancies for those that did not.

"Reproductive health experts have long wondered about the impact that stress may have on fertility, thus impeding a woman's ability to conceive," says Alice Domar, Ph.D., Executive Director of The Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF and assistant professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School.

"This study shows that stress management may improve pregnancy rates, minimizing the stress of fertility management itself, improving the success rates of IVF procedures, and ultimately, helping to alleviate the emotional burden for women who are facing challenges trying to conceive."

Domar and her colleagues randomly assigned 97 patients at the clinic to participate in the 10-session stress reduction program while undergoing IVF treatments.

The program had no effect on the number of women who conceived during the first attempt, with 43 percent of the women becoming pregnant, Domar said.

However, for those who failed to become pregnant the first time and were making a second attempt, 52 percent of the program participants became pregnant, compared with just 20 percent of those who did not take part in the program.

"It's clear based on this carefully designed study, that a holistic approach to infertility care leads to better outcomes for patients," Reuters quoted Dr. R. Dale McClure, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, as saying.

The study was a collaboration of Dr. Domar and Janet Nikolovski, PhD, Manager, R&D, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., which funded the study.

"With stress increasing over the last decade and being associated with health concerns, we are committed to advancing clinical research on stress. The goal is to provide solutions that reduce stress and its emotional and physical impact on women so that they can lead happier and healthier lives," said Janet Nikolovski, R&D manager of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.