Infertility Meditation - Double your chances of a successful IVF
Does doubling your chances of getting pregnant on your next round of IVF sound like something that you would be interested in AND feeling less anxious before, during and after your treatment.
Even if it fails…
Yes we go there - I don’t sugar coat the facts of IVF.
Research reports that women undergoing IVF treatment experienced elevated levels of anxiety and depression during the pre-IVF treatment period, on the day of retrieval , during the transfer of embryos, and in the 2-week period of waiting for the results of the treatment.
Infertility Meditation / Fertility Meditation - Is it a Relaxation Exercise?
Let’s take a look first at the results of mindfulness and fertility meditation research. (If you immediately imaging sitting cross legged chanting OM that’s NOT the kind of infertility meditation I mean.
First of all meditation isn’t a relaxation exercise I know I probably say this in every blog but it’s important to know the difference when we’re talking about these two very different but very complimentary approaches. We include both in the FertileMind app.
Li et al. (2015) found their “Mindfulness-Based Program for Infertility” 6 week program significantly increased the pregnancy rates compared to the women not practicing mindfulness. 6 weeks of taking a few minutes out of their day was life changing for these women.
44% who used mindfulness conceived - only 26% women who had the usual care conceived.
Yes these pregnancy rates are impressive - but what was equally impressive was the change in how the women felt after the research was completed. Their quality of life improved significantly, they were kinder towards themselves, found it easier to manage stressful thoughts and were sleeping better. This was before they became pregnant. Mindfulness is such a simple way for you to feel better sooner. The better you feel the easier it is to roll with the punches of IVF - and let me tell you there’s plenty of challenges coming AFTER baby arrives - not just postpartum sleep deprivation and hormone freefall. I’m talking about parents becoming older and passing, divorce, loss of employment…not to be a Debbie Downer but most of us don’t get away with only one life crisis in our few years on this planet - mindfulness will help you adjust to all of them in a healthier way.
The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) is our central stress system in the brain. It’s job is to regulate the stress response. But it’s not just involved in stress hormones but endocrine functioning too. Mindfulness has been shown to improve the function of the HPA. Too many stress hormones in the body cause inflammation in the body and one thing we know for sure - mindfulness reduces cell inflammation right down to your DNA.
Another study by Chan in 2012 that combined mindfulness practices and relaxation techniques showed a significant decrease in stress, and an increase in feelings of calmness as well as reducing the importance of having a baby. This was a surprising finding. I used to wonder what it would feel like to ‘swap heads’ with someone who wasn’t completely obsessed with having a baby and move that focus from it being the most important aspect of my life to one important aspect of my life.
Imagine how your life would be different if you could take a lighter approach to this journey. I’ll be exploring this more in the future. Spirituality - finding meaning (different to religion) seems to play a part. In this study 32 of the women had an ongoing pregnancy in the mind/body group compared to 19 in the group not practicing these techniques. This wasn’t statistically significant overall. (But it’s hard not to feel optimistic when you see even one more woman realizing her dreams).
Does mindfulness improve sperm quality too? Yes, I’ve written several articles on the benefits of mindfulness on sperm quality - and the improvements seem to happen quite quickly.
Fertility Hypnosis
Now let’s take a look at hypnosis for fertility.
The days leading up your ET can be stressful.
The women in Catoire’s 2013 RCT had their first hypnosis treatment on the day of their ET. The control group did breathing exercises for relaxation. Hypnosis was more effective at reducing anxiety than meds or breathing techniques. More effective than Valium!
I’ve found that preparing for your retrieval and transfer is a lot less stressful when we combine hypnosis and mindfulness techniques in the days before. They compliment each other beautifully - mindfulness helps you notice when you are on a train of thought to stress town and hypnosis relaxes and supports you with positive imagery while turning down cortisol release.
In 2006 Levitas and colleagues ran a research study with almost 200 women. It compared 98 women using hypnosis during their ET and 96 without (usual care). Women who used hypnosis before and during their ET significantly increased the likelihood of becoming pregnant. The study hasn’t been replicated (the authors recommended an RCT).
53% who used fertility hypnosis conceived - only 28% of the non hypno group became pregnant.
A 2021 Turkish study showed significantly reduced cortisol levels (stress hormone) in women who used Hypnofertility-based nursing care including affirmations, visualization, imagination, and relaxation throughout their IVF cycle (but no statistically significant difference in positive pregnancy tests). About the same number of women became pregnant. Previous studies indicate that music also reduces stress and anxiety levels and pain during procedures.
So what’s the likely mechanism for improving pregnancy rates?
By reducing stress we’re reducing uterine activity (the uterus contracting and expelling the embryo). One study showed about 8% are expelled by the uterus. Pregnancy and implantation rates decrease as the frequency of uterine contractions increases. If we take a deep dive into the secret ingredient that makes a difference overall - it’s the reduction of damaging cortisol causing cell damage and a healthier stress response (HPA).
Why would your uterus be contracting? - Try infertility guided meditations for conception!
Any stimulation of the cervix and uterus increases contractions. Added to that the stress of the procedure. Stress reduces blood flow to the reproductive system. As the uterus isn’t a defensive organ so blood is redirected away from it during stressful encounters - real or imagined. Relaxation techniques such as infertility guided meditations for conception can be helpful as well as mindfulness strategies.
It can also depend on how the procedure is done such as the type of catheter used, ultrasound-guided soft catheter transfers, ETs guided with ultrasound performed away from the top of the uterus when compared with IVF cycles using the traditional “clinical touch” seem to increase pregnancy rates too. (I’m hoping the authors in the Turkish study can shed more light on this variable).
In my work I’ve always found a combination of mindfulness skills, hypnosis, breathing and affirmations contribute to significantly reduced stress levels and increased optimism and coping skills.
How are you currently managing your day to day stress levels as well as prepping for your IVF?
Have you started using FertileMind - the best fertility app available?
Tracy
#fertilemindapp #ivf #ivfjourney #ivfpregnancy #ivfsucks #fertilitycoach #hypnofertility #ivfsuccess #hypnosis #mindfulness #getpregnantfast
