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Pregnancy

Relax Please To Become Pregnant (MedIndia-12 August 2010)

British research confirms that women should relax if they want to fall pregnant.

Those anxious during their fertile time are less likely to conceive than those who were calm. Up
till now the evidence behind this belief had largely been anecdotal.

Now, scientists from Oxford University have found stressed women were 12 per cent less likely
to conceive.

They carried out saliva tests on 274 women and analysed levels of the stress hormone cortisol
and the enzyme alpha-amylase (an indicator of adrenalin levels).

All the women were aged between 18 and 40 and were trying for a baby naturally.

None of the women had not been trying for more than three cycles prior to the start of the study
and had not undergone fertility treatment.

Researchers carried out the tests on day six of each woman's menstrual cycle for a total of six
cycles or until the woman fell pregnant.

They used fertility monitors to identify ovulation and confirmed the pregnancies with testing
kits.

The study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, found no effect from cortisol on the
chances of falling pregnant.

But women in the group with the highest levels of alpha-amylase had a 12 per cent lower chance
of falling pregnant for each day of their most fertile days than those with the lowest levels of
alpha-amylase.

The authors concluded- 'Stress significantly reduced the probability of conception each day
during the fertile window.'