COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time, researchers have data that links stress to a woman’s inability to become pregnant.
The OSU study from Ohio State finds women with high levels of a biological indicator of stress as measured in their saliva are 29 percent less likely to get pregnant than women with the lowest levels.
The authors of the study, which appears online in the journal “Human Reproduction” say their findings should encourage women of child-bearing age to consider managing their stress rather than ignoring it as a factor when they are trying to conceive.
“Getting the recommended 20 to 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day has been shown to decrease stress levels; certainly meditation and mindfulness, or yoga and acupuncture. There are many options right now that we think are potentially useful in a fertility context,” said Courtney Lynch, director of reproductive epidemiology at OSU Wexner Medical Center.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate more than 6 percent of married women struggle with infertility.