Boost Your Fertility with Hypnosis

By Nanci Higgins, CHT

Experiencing infertility can be extremely stressful and disheartening for women and their partners. Women who are unable to conceive often feel powerless, and if they are pursuing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), it can feel as though their fate is in their doctors' hands. Ongoing disappointments and losses can also impact a couple's relationship; the divorce rate among couples with infertility is about 50% higher than in the general population. It is critical for couples that are confronted with infertility to learn how to cope with the stress. In many cases, reducing stress can also help boost chances of conceiving.

Studies have shown that chronic stress can lead to a decrease in fertility, so if you're confronted with infertility, the last thing you need is more stress. In about 50% of infertility cases, the cause cannot be determined, and it is widely believed that a number of these cases result from psychological factors. This is evident in the numerous cases where couples become pregnant after they've started the adoption process.

Hypnotherapy offers women and their partners a safe and natural approach to alleviate stress, as well as release fears and other emotional obstacles that may be contributing to their infertility. Visualize Fertility™ is a program that I created to empower women and their partners to achieve profound healing together, through stress management and guided imagery. Guided imagery is very powerful because the mind seems capable of bringing about what we are imagining.

Recent studies using PET scans at Stanford University have shown that our brain has the same response to specific events, whether they are real or imagined. When we imagine an experience, our brain sends out signals, releasing chemicals that effect our body as though the events are actually occurring. It's an exhilarating feeling to experience in hypnosis what you want your body to achieve. It heightens your expectation for success, which is key to achieving any goal.

It is believed that hypnosis works by helping people expect good results. "Expectation is a powerful thing," says Robert DeLap, M.D. of the Food and Drug Administration. "The more you believe you're going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that you will experience a benefit." It can be compared to the placebo effect, where look-alike pills with no active ingredient can improve a medical condition simply because the person has the expectation that the "drug" will be helpful.

In working with couples that are experiencing infertility, I believe that it's important to help them view infertility as a unique, albeit unwelcome, opportunity to strengthen their relationship in profound ways. Taking a teamwork approach toward the common goal of achieving fertility enables couples to enrich their love and support for one another, and creates a powerful, united mindset. Working together in this way also prepares a couple to function effectively later in life, when they encounter the challenges of parenthood.

Having experienced infertility personally, I understand how difficult it can be. It sometimes seems impossible to keep a positive attitude, which is so important. After two years of using fertility drugs and suffering a miscarriage, my doctor suggested that I stop taking medication to give myself a rest. I was a graduate student at the time, and one of my professors taught us how to use relaxation with visualization to reduce stress. The techniques were very effective and I was inspired to use them to visualize conception. Incredibly, it worked immediately. During my pregnancy, I used these techniques to remain healthy and relaxed. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl, and two years later, when we decided to "try" for a second child, I was able to conceive immediately, without using fertility drugs.

Hypnotherapy can help women take an empowered role in their own healing process, giving them a heightened expectation of success. Used alone or as an adjunct therapy to ART and other methods, this approach offers a gentler, more relaxing transition to fertility.

1. Take time everyday to relax and nurture yourself—demonstrate to yourself that you have an innate ability to nurture and care for a baby.
2. Maintain open communication with your partner and find a way to show your love and appreciation everyday—demonstrate to one another that you can work effectively together as a couple and as parents.
3. Find a quiet time for self-hypnosis with visualization—show your body what you want it to achieve.
   1. Put on some soft music, get comfortable, and close your eyes.
   2. Use your fingers to count from 10 to 1, as you repeat a positive affirmation to yourself, such as "I am a healthy, fertile woman," or "I give my mind, body, and spirit permission to conceive a healthy baby."
   3. Visualize your healthy reproductive organs, feel them healing and imagine them functioning perfectly.
   4. Imagine your body going through the ovulation and conception process.
   5. Reassure yourself that you no longer need to be concerned about conceiving, because you will achieve it when the time is right.