Boost your chances of getting pregnant
Can you think yourself pregnant?
'It was such a blow to learn we had a one-in-a-million chance of getting pregnant naturally,' says Amanda Howe, 34, from London. 'We were told there were problems with my ovaries and my husband's sperm. We even blew all our savings on three cycles of IVF - and got nowhere.'
When the prospect of being made redundant distracted Amanda's thoughts, she missed her period and found she was pregnant. Now she's mum to Lily, 3, and Jo, 18 months. 'Each time I've stopped thinking about it, I've got pregnant,' she says. 'I'm convinced that's what made it happen.' So is it just coincidence, or can obsessing about getting pregnant play a role in preventing it?
Coincidence or science?
Obstetrician Dr Donald Gibb is the founder of The Birth Company, a pregnancy and childbirth clinic in London's Harley Street that adopts an holistic approach. He believes that stress and fatigue caused by hectic lives and demanding jobs can affect people's ability to conceive naturally. He also thinks that the stress of IVF treatment can further hinder chances of conception.
'Fertility is controlled by part of the brain called the hypothalamus,' he explains. 'Severe anxiety can affect the hypothalamus and prevent it from sending out the signals that trigger ovulation. When a woman stops worrying, the mechanism can start to work again.'
Many women turn to alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and hypnotherapy, to boost fertility. But do they work? And if so, what evidence is there to prove it?
Read on:Alternative therapies
By Beatrix Clarke
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NICOLA SHIELS, 7 days [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]
my partner and i had been been trying for a year and a half then i fell,but we lost it when i was 8 weeks pregnant nowall i can think of is getting pregnant and gutted when it hasnt happened.