Better luck with IVF if a woman 'lets go'

Women who cope with the stress of infertility treatment by relinquishing control are nearly twice as likely to get pregnant as those who don't adopt this strategy.

There is increasing evidence that stress and emotional distress can influence in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) success. But evidence on the effects of other psychological factors has been inconclusive.

Researchers theorised that coping mechanisms, rather than traits like anxiety or hostility, might play a role in IVF success. While problem-focused coping is an effective way to deal with situations that are under a person's control, so-called emotion-focused coping, which can involve humour, denial, relaxation, and letting go, might be a less stressful way to handle infertility treatment. They looked at 88 women undergoing IVF in Israel, 21 of whom got pregnant. The only factors that independently influenced IVF success, it was found, were a woman's age and whether she had high letting go coping levels at the beginning of the study.

IVF treatment is highly uncontrollable. When control is not possible, focusing on and regulating one's associated emotions may be more effective. Women who don't use this approach may spend more time worrying and thinking about whether or not they will get pregnant, which can affect multiple systems in the body.

The findings suggest that techniques like meditation, which is focused on teaching people to let go, could help improve women's chances of getting pregnant.

The next logical step would be to test whether meditation, aimed at helping women relinquish control and improve letting go, could have positive effects on reproductive outcomes in women undergoing infertility and IVF treatments, the researchers concluded.