Consider hypnotherapy for unexplained infertility and IVF

My direct message to any women struggling to conceive is to consider hypnotherapy much sooner in your fertility journey. The primary outcome of any hypnotherapy treatment plan will be to reduce the impact of stress. However, you, could also save thousands of pounds and avoid unnecessary (and potentially risky) medical treatment.

It's estimated that one in seven couples have difficulty with conception. Primary infertility is the condition to describe no children, secondary infertility refers to the difficulty producing a second or subsequent child. Infertility can be caused by many different things. This includes age, surgery or previous illnesses, environmental or genetic factors.

With the advancement in science in the area of reproductive medicine, both women and men can undergo testing to identify any physical factors. One of the most common causes of infertility in men is reduced quality sperm. Problems with ovulation are one of the causes of women's infertility. Medication, treatment or assisted reproduction techniques can be offered although they are not without risk, and offer no guarantees of victory.

On average, women who are aged under 35 have around a 30% live birth success rate with own eggs using IVF. Women over the age of 43 have a success rate of less than 5% with their own eggs. The narrow criteria for NHS fertility treatment mean that some people just aren't eligible. With the average cost/investment of a round of IVF starting around £5000, private treatment can run into tens of thousands of pounds. 

We are taught that most things in life will come to those who wait, who persevere and try hard. Contrariwise the longer a couple has been trying the chances of success continues to drop.

Interestingly, one in four couples present with infertility with no apparent medical diagnosis. These cases are referred to as unexplained. This means all the tests come back within normal ranges. In these cases, there is no real reason why conception cannot take place. This indicates clearly that the 'cure' may lie outside the scope of traditional medicine.

Over the last 10 years, I've been working with women who present with a range of infertility issues. Many are married or in long-term relationships. Although over the last few years, I've seen an upward trend in unattached women who have decided to enter motherhood alone. The age range of my clients has been from 28 to early 50s. Female clients who are over the age of 43 tend to seek my support with IVF assisted reproduction programs. These tend to be with private fertility clinics in the UK and abroad (because the costs are lower and the success rates can be higher).

My clients seek out hypnotherapy to negate the impact of riding the fertility rollercoaster. It plays havoc with their emotional and physical well-being and puts a massive strain on existing relationships with their partners and friends.

These women feel an overwhelming sense of failure and despair at not being able to fulfil their motherhood dreams. They worry about the future, and that they will never be happy.

I specialise in this area because I suffered from secondary infertility following a traumatic pregnancy and birth experience when I was 30 years old. I never made the connection that this past experience could be related until I started practising as a hypnotherapist. I discovered that our past can affect the present, especially if there is trauma involved. Ever since I've embarked upon much-advanced training in the area of infertility, and got to understand how my subconscious blocked me from conceiving.

Often I'm the last resort for women, after years of failures, (one recent client has been trying for over a decade). After desperately scouring the internet looking for something that might give hope, they stumble across hypnosis as a possible therapy. Wondering whether their mind, their beliefs, past experiences, or fear of not conceiving has any part to play. 

Yes, it does play a big part because what happens in our mind affects what happens in our body.

There is a wealth of research showing that hormone levels, ovulation and other reproductive factors may well be affected by what is going on in your mind (and we're not just talking pop-science here).

Our mind and body is a complex network of connections. Science has shown that every cell in our body is listening to our thoughts. So when the news is consistently terrible, our cells know this too. Thoughts create our internal environment. So, in turn, pregnancy failures, losses and severe disappointments produce negative thinking and change beliefs. This creates a negative inner environment which in turn leads to hopelessness and distress. 

In the wild, situations such as loss of a mate, nest disturbance or other unsettled environmental conditions reduce procreation and fertility. It's Mother Nature’s way of responding to the current climate and waiting for things to improve.

Simply, a depressed or stressed human female body is not the optimal environment for conception to take place. 

Obviously, I can't offer any guarantees that women will go on to give birth, but some of my successful outcomes (live birth rates) are when women present with unexplained infertility.

One study from Israel has shown that hypnosis during IVF embryo transfer has been shown to double the chances of conception. While I'm not there in the clinic with these ladies, my hypnosis recordings can accompany them during this time.

I've even had women book to see me and cancel before our session because they have received a positive test result. I put this down to lower stress levels that are triggered when these women realise they can relax a bit more. As they are getting help for their mental health, this gives them a sense of control over the situation. 

But having a baby isn't the only benefit that can be received from hypnotherapy. Other outcomes my clients and various hypnosis studies have shown include:

• Significant improvements to menstrual problems such as endometriosis and erratic menstrual cycles.
• Higher levels of satisfaction with pregnancy, labour and birth.
• Lower rates of post-natal depression.
• Lower levels of miscarriage.
• Clarity over existing relationship problems with partners and subsequent decisions to stop trying.
• Acceptance of using donor eggs to improve success rates for women over 40 on IVF programmes.

Concerning the current COVID-19 situation, history tells us that seven months from the peak future birth rates could decline by up to 15%. It's also been extremely distressing for many women during lockdown to deal with the impact of having their fertility treatment cancelled or postponed. Especially if their biological clock is ticking away.

Only time will tell what the future birth rate will be from this pandemic. Yet we know that the external environment is very unsettled. With social distancing set to remain for the foreseeable future then this adds another layer of stress.

So now really is the best time to book yourself some online hypnotherapy sessions to negate this effect and prepare a more positive safer internal environment in your ‘mind and body’ while the chaos in the world sorts itself out.

Links

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e829/5997d8aa852a20c0f9009f0e8f7942dd3a0e.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16566936

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3203382/