Stress ‘can negatively impact women’s chances of conceiving’

A new US study has offered evidence that stress can have a negative impact on a woman's chance of conceiving.

The University of Louisville research monitored 400 women aged 40 years and younger, who recorded their daily stress levels, as well as information on menstruation, intercourse, contraception, alcohol, caffeine and smoking habits.

It was shown that women who reported feeling more stressed during their ovulatory window were approximately 40 percent less likely to conceive during that month than other, less stressful months.

Similarly, women who generally reported feeling more stressed than other women were around 45 percent less likely to conceive, with the negative effect of stress on fertility only observed during the ovulatory window.

These findings could put to rest previous questions over whether emotional and psychological attributes may play a meaningful role in affecting fertility.

Study leader Dr Kira Taylor, an epidemiologist at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Science, said the result shows that "psychological health and wellbeing is just as important as other more commonly accepted risk factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or obesity when trying to conceive".

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