Prolonged Stress and Your Reproductive Health

Conflict can be a source of stress.

Can something so invisible as stress really have an effect on your biological self? I mean, we all know if can contribute towards long term depression and chronic anxiety, but what about our body on a cellular level?

More and more studies are coming out proving that this is indeed the case. Stresses like money, conflicts in personal relationships and infertility can stress us out, changing our brain and our hormones. If there is chronic tress in the system, our brains can create a steady stream of chemical and hormones releases, such as cortisol production, and our immune systems get weaker over time, leaving us open to not just colds and flu’s but developing chronic diseases that earlier we may have been able to avoid. If adrenaline (think the flight or fight hormone) an cortisol levels are too high or too low it can throw off not just the immune system, but all systems, not just the ones involved in getting pregnant/  DHA, norepinephrine and several other chemicals can also get thrown off, pushing a woman into premature menopause, and decreasing her chances of getting pregnant even more.

If you or someone you know are in a chronic state of stress, get help! It’s easy to fall pray to stressers, but it’s even easier to prevent and treat stress & prevent your body from slipping into a poor, dysfunctional state of health where it’s nearly impossible to conceive. At Santa Monica Fertility we believe in and encourage achieving total health and wellness along the journey to parenthood – this will not only help families to conceive, but will lay the foundation for a happy, healthy family in the long run.