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Just relax

Hearing that trite advice can be frustrating, but scientific evidence consistently indicates that stress reduction definitely ups your odds of conceiving. For example, infertile women who participated in a ten-week mind-body workshop that included muscle relaxation, yoga, and imagery were nearly three times as likely to get pregnant within a year than those women who didn’t.

“There’s certainly a psychosocial component to getting pregnant,” suggests Dorothy Greenfeld, MSW, director of behavioral services at the Yale Fertility Center of Yale University. Moreover, she explains, anxiety and stress can upset a woman’s menstrual cycle by delaying or stopping ovulation. But what’s more important than how or why it works, says Greenfeld, is finding out what works for you.

“Women respond differently to stress than men, and than other women as well,” she says. “Sure, acupuncture, massage, and yoga may help. What really helps is trying to increase pleasurable activities. Reading trashy novels, walking, unscheduled sex … anything to temporarily take your mind off trying to get pregnant.”