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 Stress and infertility are
intertwined issues. Certainly
infertility and its treatment protocols are stressful.
How much does stress impair fertility?
For generations, infertile couples were told by well meaning
friends and family to “just relax”. The advice, as it stands alone, is well meaning, but not
productive. Without
specific training in relaxation techniques, people cannot “just
relax”. Instead, there is a sense of guilt, because the patient
begins to feel she/he is doing something wrong, or failing to do
what is necessary. Stress
increases.
What effect does stress have
on infertility? A study
reported by Alice Domar, PhD provides data that, for couples being
treated for infertility, stress reduction is beneficial.
She divided a group of couples in fertility therapy into 3
groups. One third of
the study population was in a support group.
Another third was in Dr. Domar’s treatment group, learning
relaxation techniques. The
final third was in neither a support group, nor stress management
classes. The group
receiving no intervention for stress management or group support had
half the pregnancy rate as the other 2 groups.
Apparently, it did not matter if couples are in a support
group, or in stress management programs. As long as they are undergoing appropriate fertility therapy,
the improvement in outcome is the same.
For a no risk treatment, this is an impressive
finding.
We recommend our patients
take advantage of the information Dr. Domar has provided.
For a number of years, we have urged our patients to
participate with Resolve. We
now have available a licensed professional counselor to provide both
group and individual sessions for stress management and relaxation
techniques. is offering to work with the patients in our
practice, in an effort to aid their efforts.
In addition to our in-house capabilities, we are able to
provide names of other counselors, with experience working with
infertile couples.
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