Mythbusters! Stress is bad for IVF

The outcome of a large scale British study has just been released which found that ...women trying to get pregnant via IVF or other assisted reproduction techniques do not reduce their chances of success if they are emotionally distressed...

Study leader, Jacky Boivin of Cardiff University's school of psychology, said that ...these findings should reassure women that emotional distress caused by fertility problems or other life events co-occurring with treatment will not compromise their chance of becoming pregnant. 

Phew - one less thing to be stressed about!  

How many times do you get told while trying to make a baby (regardless of the method) that if you just relax it will happen.  I don't know about you, but it makes me soooo cranky to hear that and then you just feel stressed about feeling stressed!

So stop feeling guilty about it! The proof is in the pudding...or the British Medical Journal in this case (although I'm not really sure why the pudding has proof anyway?). 

Be kind to yourself and know that it's proven to be ok to feel all of the emotions that are part of this wild carousel ride we are on.  Scream, yell, cry, laugh, hope, dream and stress if you need to. We're only human after all.

Image source: elgarboart on Etsy. Love the vintageness of this photo.