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Kiosha • Fri, Jun 05

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Can stress get in the way of getting pregnant?

Toni Weschler

fertility educator

Stress can interfere with conception. In fact, if you're having a hard time getting pregnant, people may have already said to you, "Just relax and it will happen." Although this can feel insulting, there's a kernel of truth to it.

That's because stress can affect the functioning of the hypothalamus — the gland in the brain that regulates your appetite and emotions, as well as the hormones that tell your ovaries to release eggs. If you're stressed out, you may ovulate later in your cycle or not at all. So if you're only having sex around day 14, thinking that you're about to ovulate, you may miss your opportunity to conceive.

It's important to differentiate between constant and sudden stress. If your stress level is high but fairly consistent, your body will likely acclimate to it and you'll probably still ovulate each cycle. It's sudden stress —such as an accident or a death in the family — that can throw your cycle off and interfere with ovulation.

Of course, this varies from woman to woman. Some women find that even a trip out of town can delay ovulation. Others have found that a severely traumatic incident didn't impact their cycle at all.

It's also important to remember that stress isn't only a reaction to something negative. Positive stress can also affect your cycle, causing you to ovulate later or not at all. Brides often report strange cycles because they're happily stressed about their weddings.

If you're trying to get pregnant and you're under stress, your cervical fluid may give you a warning that something's amiss. Rather than noticing increasing cervical fluid wetness as you approach ovulation, you might find patches of wetness interspersed with dry days. It's as if your body is trying to ovulate, but the stress continues to delay it.

You'll be able to confirm when you have indeed ovulated by tracking your basal body temperature. You should see a sustained rise about a day after ovulation, lasting about 12 to 16 days.

The good news is that delayed ovulation simply lengthens your entire cycle. It doesn't shorten the luteal phase — typically lasting 12 to 16 days after ovulation to the start of your next menstrual period. This is important because a short luteal phase has been linked to early miscarriage.

So while stress may impact when you ovulate, it won't necessarily mess with your chances of a successful pregnancy, as long as you know how to identify when ovulation is about to occur by charting your cervical fluid.

Last updated: March 2015

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Stressed:-):-):-)

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