Recently Infertility has become a major problem worldwide and the women who are struggling to conceive report feelings of depression, anxiety, and Poor Quality of life.It is estimated that 1 in 8 couples (or 12% of married women) have trouble in getting pregnant. The inability to reproduce naturally can cause feelings of shame and guilt in many couples. It is very difficult to assess the distress levels in women undergoing infertility treatment.Many studies have reported that infertile individuals have psychiatric symptoms,and their levels of anxiety and depression aresignificantly higher than in fertile controls.
Stress impedes reproductive function. more distressed the women prior to and during treatment, the lower the pregnancy rates. Patients with one treatment failure have significantlyhigher levels of anxiety, and patients with two failuresexperienced more depression when compared withthose without a history of treatment. This is mainly because people tend to think ART as last resort and a failure seems to be a bad ending.
Very few women get pregnant easily from ART,conceiving on their first cycle. However,for many it may take years, or not happen at all.Changes to lifestyle, such asexercise, diet, caffeine intake, and sleep may be alteredas an attempt to reverse the diagnosis. For some, thesechanges paired with ART treatment may lead to a pregnancy;for others, there might be a need to take help of third-party reproduction like donor egg/ sperm or Surrogacy Programs.
It is evident that infertility patients experience distress and decreased quality of life. It isimportant for infertility providers and counsellors to aid these patients by way of psychologicalinterventions and emotional support.The Mind/Bodyinterventions for infertile patients can improve psychologicaloutcomes and marital relationships as well as increase patient retention and improve pregnancyrates.It has been proven a successfulway to reduce stress and increase pregnancy ratesand provides patients with skills in cognitive behaviour therapy, relaxation training, lifestyle changes, journaling,self-awareness, and social support components.
The 2-week waiting period between embryo transfer and the pregnancy test has been recognized as a very stressful time during IVF treatment. Relaxation techniques have been widely shown toreduce negative emotions in a range of medical patients, more specifically, they have been shown tosignificantly reduce anxiety scores in women undergoinginfertility treatment.
To concludeCouples undergoing fertility treatments experience immense level of stress and anxiety which have a negative impact on their IVF outcomes. Individualizing the Patient based on their history and drug therapy will be more Beneficial. Reducingstress and anxiety can incredibly help IVF patients at all stageswhich ultimately lead them to have asuccessful pregnancy.
Dr. Nisha Bhatnagar., MBBS., MD (ObGyn)
Medical Director,
Aveya Fertility & IVF Centre,
New Delhi
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Patients have rated the stress of undergoing IVF as more stressful than or almost as stressful as any other major life event, such as the death of a family member or separation or divorce.
While general assumptions may be made about stress levels during IVF, the experience for infertility patients will be personal and unique–each patient will experience the stress differently based upon his or her own personality and life experiences. Dealing with the medical staff and with the side effects or potential complications of medical treatment has its own stress: hot flashes, headaches, mood fluctuations, injections, sonograms, future health concerns, and decision making about embryos, their disposition and multiple pregnancies. A Report By: Society for assisted reproductive technology. (www.sart.org)
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Results of study analysed by Yuan An et al. states that “non-pregnant women reported higher anxiety and depression scores at the pregnancy detection day compared with the pregnant group. Lower levels of norepinephrine and cortisol at the time of oocyte retrieval and lower levels of cortisol at the time of pregnancy test were found in women with successful treatment. Significant increases in serum norepinephrine and cortisol values were observed during ovarian stimulation. State Anxiety scores were negatively correlated with live birth rate, and positively associated with serum norepinephrine and cortisol values”.
(An Y, Sun Z, Li L, Zhang Y, Ji H. Relationship between psychological stress and reproductive outcome in women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment: psychological and neurohormonal assessment. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2013;30(1):35-41)
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The role of stress in reproduction, particularly during treatment for infertility, has been of considerable interest; however, few studies have objectively measured stress and anxiety over the course of the IVF cycle or compared the experience of first-time and repeat patients.
In a study it was observed that, using logistic regression modelling, all scores at T2 were correlated with pregnancy outcome with lower scores on the STAI State and PSS and higher scores on the ISES associated with higher pregnancy rates. Stress and anxiety levels remained elevated across all cycles. Women with lower stress and anxiety levels on the day prior to oocyte retrieval had a higher pregnancy rate.
(Turner, Kathy & Reynolds-May, Margaret &Zitek, Emily & Tisdale, Rebecca & Carlisle, Allison & Westphal, Lynn. (2013). Stress and Anxiety Scores in First and Repeat IVF Cycles: A Pilot Study. PloS one.)
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Patients have rated the stress of undergoing #IVF as more stressful than or almost as stressful as any other major life event, such as the death of a family member or separation or divorce.
While general assumptions may be made about stress levels during IVF, the experience for infertility patients will be personal and unique–each patient will experience the stress differently based upon his or her own personality and life experiences. Dealing with the medical staff and with the side effects or potential complications of #medical treatment has its own stress: #Hotflashes, #headaches, #moodfluctuations, #injections, #sonograms, future health concerns, and decision making about #embryos, their disposition and multiple pregnancies. A Report By: Society for assisted reproductive technology. (www.sart.org)
Click To Know more on whether IVF treatment should start with reducing stress?
#Women_Health #Infertility #Shield_Connect #Gynecology
#Harmone #Stress #pregnancy