Ongoing stress reduces the chances of getting pregnant

Stress reduces the chances of getting pregnant
A recent study has shown that women suffering from stress have less chance of becoming pregnant. But if they manage to reduce their stress levels, the chances of conceiving will increase again.

Stress endangers the health of the offspring
It has long been known that stress in pregnancy can affect the child's health. Stress can also be dangerous before pregnancy and, among other things, lead to underweight in newborns. Scientists have now reported that women who are stressed are already less likely to become pregnant anyway.

A US study showed that women who are severely stressed have less chance of getting pregnant. Reducing the level of stress improves the chances of conceiving. (Image: alice_photo / fotolia.com)

Stressed women have less chance of getting pregnant
The assumption that women suffering from stress have less chance of getting pregnant is not new, but has now been proven in a study. According to University of Louisville scientists in Kentucky, USA, only four out of ten women became pregnant during the fertile days if they were severely stressed during that period. For women who felt increasingly stressed, they were even fewer.

Subjective stress level
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal "Annals of Epidemiology", also found that the negative impact of stress persists even when other factors such as body mass index (BMI), age, alcohol intake, and body weight gain Frequency of sex were taken into account.

As part of the study, which involved 400 women up to and including 40 years of age, the subjects had to state their subjective stress levels on a scale of one to four every day. In addition, information on menstruation, sex, contraception, alcohol, caffeine and tobacco consumption was recorded. Participants were followed for an average of eight cycles or until the onset of pregnancy.

Better chances of conception
According to study director Kira Taylor of the University of Louisville, the results showed that women would have better chances of conceiving if they reduced their stress levels. "Sport, attending a stress management course or talking with health professionals," said Taylor in a statement from the university. (Ad)