Health news - Stress does not reduce the success rate of IVF treatment
02 September 2005 - written by Michael Paterson for Bupa's health information team
Being stressed about IVF doesn't appear to reduce the chance of it being successful, according to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Human Reproduction.1
What did the study show?
Swedish researchers looked at 166 women who were undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. They found that women who were stressed and anxious were no less likely to become pregnant following IVF than women who were calm and happy.
A woman's chances of becoming pregnant were not linked to how well she got on with her partner or how much she wanted a child.1 Previous studies looking at the effects of stress on IVF have reported conflicting conclusions.
How was it carried out?
The women who took part answered two in-depth questionnaires - one a month before treatment began and another just before their eggs were retrieved for the IVF treatment itself.
Researchers were then able to measure the women's psychological wellbeing - including their feelings of guilt, anger, contentment, frustration, happiness, isolation, confidence, anxiety, satisfaction, depression, powerlessness, competence and control.1
What was the advice to patients?
The researchers concluded that many women who undergo fertility treatment feel anxious about the outcome. There was no evidence to suggest that their anxiety made failure more likely. The researchers said that they hoped that their findings would comfort women undergoing IVF, and even help them to reduce their stress levels.1
What is IVF?
IVF is a fertility treatment for women who can't conceive a baby naturally because they have blocked or damaged Fallopian tubes. This problem prevents the woman's egg from travelling from the ovary to the womb. IVF can also be used to help couples with male-based infertility to conceive.
With IVF, eggs are removed from the ovaries and mixed with sperm in a laboratory. Conception happens outside of the body rather than in the womb.2 When the eggs are fertilised, they are put back into the woman's womb so that they can grow, just as in a normal pregnancy.4
What happens in IVF treatment?
A woman who is undergoing IVF needs to take special hormones to help her produce lots of eggs in her monthly cycle - rather than the usual one or two. Doctors monitor the eggs in the woman's ovaries through an ultrasound scan. When there are enough suitable eggs, they are removed and mixed with sperm in a special dish in the laboratory.3
Once the eggs have been removed, the woman will be given more hormone treatment to prepare her womb for pregnancy.3
If the eggs are fertilised by the sperm, they become embryos. These embryos are left to grow for a day outside the body. Two will then be put into the woman's womb using a tube. Doctors have stopped putting three embryos into the womb because too many women were having triplets.3 Spare embryos produced during the treatment can be frozen and used later.4
It is possible for a woman to become pregnant using an egg donated by another woman.3
How many women have IVF treatment?
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, 28,487 women now have IVF in the UK every year.5
What is the success rate of IVF?
For each IVF treatment using fresh eggs, the chance of having a baby is 22 per cent.6 Younger women are more likely to get pregnant using this method than older women. After five treatments with fresh eggs, half of women aged 34 would expect to conceive.
With frozen eggs, the overall chance of having a baby per treatment is 14 per cent.6
What are the chances of having twins - or more?
Currently one in 200 IVF births are triplets - down from almost one in every 25 in the early 1990s. One in five IVF births are twins.7
Who can have IVF?
Since 1 April 2005, all women who have not been able to conceive naturally should be able to have at least one cycle of treatment paid for by the NHS. A private cycle of IVF treatment costs about £3000.
A doctor will also have to decide if a woman is suitable for IVF. Factors to be considered include:8
- age
- health and family medical history
- any risk of hereditary disease
- the woman's ability to bring up a child in a stable environment
- the affect of a child on any other children
- whether the child needs a father figure
How common is it for women to have problems becoming pregnant?
Infertility problems are very common.9 About 1 in 7 couples in the UK have a problem getting pregnant. Within this group, some cases are unexplained while others may be due to problems such as low sperm count or damaged Fallopian tubes.
What else affects the success of IVF?
Smoking and being overweight greatly reduce the chances of successful IVF treatment.10 A woman who smokes has the same chance of becoming pregnant through IVF as a non-smoking woman 10 years older.10 Overweight women are also less likely to become pregnant by this method, although researchers do not know why.
Bupa information
Further information
- British Infertility Counselling Association
0114 263 1448
www.bica.net - Infertility Network UK
08701 188088
www.infertilitynetworkuk.com - Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
020 7291 8200
www.hfea.gov.uk
References
- Anderheim L, Holter H, Bergh C et al. Does psychological stress affect the outcome of in vitro fertilisation? Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 2005
- In Vitro Fertilisation. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - More about IVF. Best Treatments.
www.besttreatments.co.uk - Freezing and Storage. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - Latest annual figures. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - HFEA Guide to Infertility and Directory of Clinics 2005/06 - Your treatment options. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - Facts and Figures. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - Welfare of the Child Assessment. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
www.hfea.gov.uk - How common is infertility? Best Treatments.
www.besttreatments.co.uk - 10. Lintsen A, Pasker-de-Jong P, Boer E et al. Effects of subfertility cause, smoking and body weight on the success rate of IVF. Human Reproduction 2005; 20: 10.
All pages were accessed on 30 August 2005
