Fertility
How can Hypnotherapy help with fertility issues?
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Stress reduction
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Creating a better a sleep cycle
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Increasing feelings of calm and relaxation
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Restoring physical, mental, and emotional balance and wellbeing
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Identifying and resolving issues that may be preventing conception (subconscious and conscious)
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Preparation for conception
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Provide emotional support
Stress and Fertility
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Stress causes tremendous changes in the body’s biochemistry and rhythms.
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Along with impacting overall health, stress or anxiety over a prolonged period can disrupt the production of the hormones needed for ovulation, implantation, and sperm quality.
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Since the body’s priority is to keep us out of danger when we are experiencing a threat or stress, it behaves on the basis that taking care of a foetus would only put us under unnecessary strain.
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The hypothalamus regulates both the stress response and sex hormones, which is why excessive stress can lead to anovulation, irregular menstrual cycles, and in more severe cases, complete suppression of the menstrual cycle.
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Adrenaline is released by the adrenals when we’re stressed. Adrenaline helps us escape from danger but it also inhibits the production of progesterone, which is essential for building and maintaining a lining of the uterus, thus impeding fertility.
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Prolactin (usually released by the pituitary gland to stimulate lactation in preparation for nursing) inhibits a woman’s fertility so she’ll be less likely to conceive during breastfeeding. During times of stress, the pituitary emits high levels of prolactin.
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After prolonged stress, the sympathetic nervous system can become hyper-stimulated. A hyper-stimulated nervous system sends less blood to the uterus and ovaries, thereby impairing their optimal functioning.
Sleep and Fertility
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Poor sleep affects our physical health.
For as long as a state of insufficient sleep lasts, and for some time thereafter, the body remains stuck in some degree of a fight or flight state.
When we’re tired we are moody and irritable, over time it can disrupt your relationship, which can lead to fewer opportunities for pregnancy to occur.
Lack of sleep increases our risk of diseases and conditions that can affect fertility – diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity etc.
Depression
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Women with depression, who were treated showed a 60% viable pregnancy rate within six months, contrasting with 24% when depression went untreated.
(Journal of American Medical Women’s Association,1999, vol 54)
Balance and Fertility
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Our body is a homeostatic system that aims to self-correct and rebalance unless it is prevented from doing so.
Ongoing exposure to any of the negative external or internal factors can affect the natural balance in the body and fertility can be negatively impacted.
Equally, if our basic emotional and physical needs are not being met, this too can lead to mental, emotional and physical disruptions.