Hypnotherapy and Fertility: Why Relaxation Matters When You’re Trying to Conceive
The link between conception and relaxation is pretty undisputed; we all know that person who only got pregnant when they stopped trying, or after they adopted. Scientifically there’s a good reason for this; when we’re anxious and in a state of fight or flight, our brains and bodies know that it will make it harder for us to run for our lives or fight off a wild animal if we’re pregnant or have an infant. Stress also impacts the hormones our bodies produce that can make conception less likely. We also know that stress negatively impacts sleep, and that poor sleep again impacts the way our bodies function, making it harder to conceive. This is all contributing to the lowest live birth rates in England and Wales since 1938!
Developments in fertility treatments are helpful, and can be a lifeline to those trying to conceive who aren’t getting the results they’d hoped for, but these can also be invasive and stressful. This is why hypnotherapy can be so helpful for people trying to conceive; it works to gently ease your body out of the fight or flight response and into a state where our bodies can rest and digest. It also really helps promote restful sleep, allowing our bodies to function well. This isn’t just anecdotal; studies have shown that hypnotherapy can help support the success of IVF (Levitas et al. 2006) and can also help conception to occur in cases of unexplained infertility (Vyas et al 2013).
If you’re currently trying to conceive and would like to know more about the ways that hypnotherapy can help, please get in touch, I’d be happy to have a chat.
Candy x
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