‘Preconception Stress’ Raises Risk of Infertility

Lisa Franchi March 24, 2014

Poor diet, smoking and excessive alcohol use have all been linked to infertility problems. Now, and for the first time, scientists found that the ‘stress’ associated with trying to get pregnant could also raise infertility risk.

Stressed women prone to infertility issues

Researchers from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre found that women under high stress are 29 per cent less likely to get pregnant each month compared to those who are less stressed. In the study, stress was measured based on the levels of alpha-amylase – a protein enzyme secreted through the saliva and is a known indicator of stress.

501 American women ages 18 to 40 years who were free from known fertility problems and had just started trying to conceive were followed for 12 months or until they become pregnant. Saliva samples were collected from participants the morning following enrolment and again the morning following the first day of their first study-observed menstrual cycle.

"This is now the second study in which we have demonstrated that women with high levels of the stress biomarker salivary alpha-amylase have a lower probability of becoming pregnant, compared to women with low levels of this biomarker. For the first time, we’ve shown that this effect is potentially clinically meaningful, as it’s associated with a greater than two-fold increased risk of infertility among these women," said Courtney Denning-Johnson Lynch, director of reproductive epidemiology at the university and the lead investigator.

Advice for women

Lynch said their findings should encourage women who are planning to get pregnant to consider managing their stress using various techniques like yoga, meditation and mindfulness. Moreover, she added that couples should not blame themselves if they are experiencing fertility problems as stress is not the only or most important factor involved in a woman’s ability to get pregnant.

The findings were published in the journal Human Reproduction.

Source of this article:

Stress could double chance of infertility after year of trying, study finds