Stress and Fertility

The American Society of Reproductive Medicine suggests that stress can impede a woman's fertility. Stress comes in many shapes, forms and sizes. Stress results from many factors, including personal elements, work related incidents and more. Ongoing conflict, chaotic schedules, injuries and illness may all contribute to stress. Surprisingly, even the process of getting pregnant is enough to cause just enough stress to impede fertility.

The Negative Effects of Stress

Stress has a negative influence on fertility. Stress, whether associated with good or bad events may inhibit or delay ovulation in women. In men stress can also decrease the amount of sperm that men produce, decreasing the chances of successful conception. Infertility is in fact, often caused by excessive stress.

The good news is many couples can adopt techniques to help reduce stress and improve their chances of conceiving.

Tips for Reducing Stress When Trying To Conceive

There are several steps you can take to reduce stress when trying to conceive. These include the following:

• Participate in a daily exercise routine, even if that means just taking a walk around the block. Exercise is key for reducing stress and helping maintain your health and wellness. Remember it is important that you do everything in moderation however. Excessive exercise may contribute to your stress and inhibit conception. Take things easy and try to exercise roughly 3 days a week minimum if you can.
• Eat well and often. A good diet helps reduce stress and boost your fertility. Think lots of nutritious meals packed with leafy green vegetables and lean proteins. A diet high in saturated fats and processed foods can increase the stress on your body and reduce your fertility, not to mention pack on unwanted pounds.
• Try meditation, yoga or other relaxation activities. Daily meditation, to the tune of just five minutes each day, can help reduce your levels of stress and help promote your well being. Yoga will not only help you stay in shape but will also help you learn breathing techniques that can help reduce stress and anxiety.
• Consider writing in a journal. This can help you relieve stress and get your thoughts out about stressful or anxiety producing events that occur within a given day.
• Try bodywork like massage or reflexology, which can also promote relaxation or reduce stress.
• Take some time out for yourself. Most of use get so caught up in the day to day and caring for others we forget to take time for ourselves. This might mean taking a quiet 15 minute bath or snuggling in with a good book for 15 minutes. You don't need to spend a lot of time doing this but a little time will go a long way toward reducing your overall stress.
• Consider reorganizing your schedule to allow more free time. This also means organizing in general. If your desk is always messy you'll find you are far more stressed than if you had things neatly organized. Take some time out to get rid of the clutter in your life and you'll find life generally less stressful.

Most importantly, remember that conception can be a very fun process. Take your time, slow things down and have some fun during the process. The last thing you want to do is create more stress for you and your partner while trying to conceive. Couples that have fun together are much more likely to have heightened fertility than those that stress over the situation. Take some time to also nurture your relationship and appreciate the gift of love that you and your partner share. Creating life is a miraculous and rewarding process for those that take the time to enjoy it.