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🔝Mindfulness and fertility: SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN

mindfulness fertility invitro

Mindfulness to improve fertility: scientific bases

Nowadays, mindfulness is a widely used word, but on many occasions we are not clear exactly what it consists of or how to apply it.

But also, can mindfulness really help in fertility processes? 

Can practicing mindfulness help me get pregnant?

In this article we are going to see all the implications that mindfulness has on fertility. 

 

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness meditation, which is what mindfulness means in English, is the process of focusing on what is happening in the present moment, avoiding being trapped in thoughts, images, worries, pressures or judgments that come and go through our heads constantly. 

The mind "feeds" and lives on two only planes: that of the past, through memories or the memory of experiences; and that of the future, with projects, objectives and wishes. 

He constantly travels from one to another. Analyze, compare, express and even model both memories and future projects to your liking. In short, it is a non-stop that has no end. 

To understand how mindfulness works, let's compare it to walking.

Around the year, you learned how to use your legs to walk, right? But you can also use them to run, to dance, or to be sitting or even lying down. 

Now imagine you are going for a walk. At the end of your walk, you are able to stop your legs and stop walking, right? Or at the very least, you sure know that when you get home you can use your legs to climb the stairs, or to lie on the couch or whatever. 

Similarly, we should be able to use the mind when we believe it is appropriate and know how to make it stop when it is not especially necessary. 

Something like this is what is taught in mindfulness practices.

 

Is mindfulness stopping the mind and disconnecting?

No. It really is not "stopping" the mind and disconnecting from reality. Mindfulness exercises are done to try to be present and focused on the current moment and the state in which one is. It is said quickly, but it is more difficult than it seems and requires time and practice.

 

Its origin is documented in the tradition of the Buddhist religion, although this practice is exempt from moral or religious implications. Its main objective is to help people find peace, serenity and joy.  

 

Does mindfulness have something to do with fertility and pregnancy? 

There are many studies that have proven the advantages of mindfulness on the state of health in general. In recent years, in addition, the number of studies carried out on the effects of the practice of mindfulness and its implication in infertility has grown. 

 

The main benefit of mindfulness for fertility lies in the ability of this technique to calm the central nervous system, something especially important for people who are having problems with having children.

 

Infertility is a problem that many couples have, but they suffer in silence. 

According to the latest studies, it is estimated that 1 in 8 couples (or approximately 12% of married women) have problems getting pregnant or maintaining a pregnancy.

 

And despite these significant infertility figures, most women who suffer from this problem do not tell their friends and family, so it affects them even more psychologically. 

 

In fact, couples suffering from infertility have been studied to have feelings of shame, guilt, and low self-esteem, which can lead to anxiety or depression to varying degrees, as well as a poor quality of life. 

More than half of women with infertility suffer from depression. According to the latest studies, the levels of depression and anxiety in patients with infertility are equivalent to those of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Omega 3 and fertility

Benefits of mindfulness in in vitro fertilization processes

There is also preliminary evidence that the practice of mindfulness can improve the results of in vitro fertilization (IVF) processes. 

 

Not only that, but studies are beginning to point to improvements in two areas: one, in pregnancy outcomes in women who practice mindfulness, and two; in the perception of themselves and the reduction of negative thoughts due to infertility.

 

Effects of mindfulness on emotions related to fertility

In 2013, a Portuguese team developed a specific Mindfulness-Based Program for Infertility (MBPI) and studied the effect its practice had on women with fertility problems. 

 

The MBPI, based on other psychological programs already proven to lower stress or improve acceptance and confidence, was practiced in groups of 15 women, for 10 sessions of about two hours each, weekly. 

 

The technique proposed the adoption of a new attitude towards the events that occur on a day-to-day basis. It promoted their observation in the participants, taught them to stay at a certain distance to avoid reacting automatically and helped them lose their fear of having direct, open and non-judgmental experiences. They worked for acceptance, willingness, and openness to painful thoughts without trying to suppress, modify, or control them. 

 

At the end of the study, MBPI participants showed a significant decrease in negative emotions towards themselves (guilt, defeat, entrapment, depression) and towards the process they were going through. The perception of being in a fight and being defeated by their infertility was also lower allowing them to have a broader perspective on, for example, other family building options.

 

Through mindfulness practice, participants became more aware of their internal and external experience in the present moment with an attitude of openness and curiosity. Therefore, painful thoughts and feelings related to the past - for example, previous losses - or to the future - for example, “I will never be a mother” - are recognized without trying to suppress or modify them. 

Through metaphors the participants were able to compare their relationship with their own thoughts with those of someone who struggles with these thoughts instead of living their life. 

 

Preliminary data also pointed to the maintenance of these therapeutic benefits at a 6-month follow-up. 

 

Effects of mindfulness on pregnancy rates

In another 2014 study, it was confirmed that women who practiced mindfulness regularly managed to double the pregnancy results compared to the control group. It is true that the mechanism by which this occurs is not specifically described yet, but the fact that it is not clear how this relationship occurs does not mean that it does not exist. 

 

In 2015, a group of Chinese researchers wanted to confirm how the emotional and physical burden implied by an assisted fertility process could negatively influence its own result. 

 

They conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention with 58 women who were going to undergo their first IVF, and another 50 who were assigned to a control group. 

 

Women who followed the Mindfulness intervention showed a significant increase in mindfulness, self-compassion and coping with problems. 

Conversely, the women in the control group presented a significant decrease in the regulation of emotions, more difficulties and coping strategies of active and passive avoidance. 

 

There was, in addition, statistically significant differences in pregnancy rates between groups: the group that had practiced mindfulness had higher rates of pregnancy. 

 

Ultimately, the study concluded that learning to be fully aware of the present moment, without the lens of judgment, seemed to help women relate to infertility and IVF treatments differently and more positively.

How does dental health influence my fertility?

 

Mindfulness and male fertility

In the case of men, there is a 2011 study that suggests that sustained psychological stress is a major risk factor for semen quality (in addition to advanced age, smoking or alcohol consumption, among others).

 

In conclusion, the researchers proposed health programs focused on lifestyle and psychological health care for men in order to improve their reproductive health. Mindfulness was also presented as a good alternative. 

 

It is a quiet, relaxing activity, enjoyable to practice, easily accessible to almost everyone, non-pharmaceutical in nature and without side effects. 

 

There is no excuse not to get down to business, especially for women and men on their first fertility treatment. 

Here is a LINK with 50 exercises to practice Mindfulness

If you want to discover tools to practice mindfulness, you can do it here. 

 

It may interest you: 

 

References:
  • Frederiksen Y, Farver-Vestergaard I, Skovgård NG, et al. Efficacy of psychosocial interventions for psychological and pregnancy outcomes in infertile women and men: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open 2015;5:e006592
  • Galhardo, Ana. et al. Mindfulness-Based Program for Infertility: efficacy study. (Fertility and Sterility 100(4), 1059-1067. 2013. American Society for Reproductive Medicine
  • Jing Li et al. Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on fertility quality of life and pregnancy rates among women subjected to first in vitro fertilization treatment. Behavior Research and Therapy 77 (2016) 96e104
  • Ying Li, Hui Lin, Yafei Li et al. 2011. Association between socio-psycho-behavioral factors and male semen quality: systematic review and meta-analyses.Fertility and Sterility95 (1): 116-123
  • Rooney, KL and AD Domar. The relationship between stress and infertility. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 20, no. 1 (2018): 41-41.
  • Lipton, BH The biology of belief. 10th edition. Gaia Editions.
  • Grey, Miranda. womblessing.com

 

 

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