How Can Stress Affect Ovulation and Conception?

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Trying for a baby can send you through a revolving door of emotions: joy, excitement, anticipation—and maybe some worry, too.

However, if the butterflies in your stomach feel more like endlessly stampeding rhinos, you might be experiencing chronic stress.

Some forms of stress protect you from dangers, but overpowering, long-term stress can negatively impact your physical and mental health—including reproductive function. Increases in stress hormones can lead to problems with other hormone levels that can disrupt ovulation and conception.

Learn how excessive worry and emotional stress affect conception with expert insight from SneakPeek®. Then, explore proven stress management strategies to both help improve your fertility and help increase your chances of conceiving.

Understanding Stress and Its Impact on Reproductive Health 

When you experience a distressing stimulus—a child walking too close to the road or a sippy cup about to tip off the table—your body snaps into action. This is known as “fight or flight,” or your stress response. During the stress response, you may experience:

• A racing heartbeat
• Elevated blood pressure
• Shortness of breath
• Tensed muscles
• Gastrointestinal issues

The stress response kicks in to protect us from acute or short-term stressors. When we continue to experience stress, however, the stress response (for example, an increase in the stress hormone) causes more harm than good.

Chronic stress, or stress that lasts for weeks or months, can lead to issues with your health—particularly your reproductive health. If you have persistently steep stress levels, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Lower libido – High stress can sap your energy and leave you feeling less motivated to have sex. When you don’t feel in the mood, trying for a baby can seem more like a chore, and less like the exciting and pleasurable activity it should be.
• Irregular or skipped periods – When you’re under constant stress, you don’t feel like your regular self. Often, your periods won’t be regular, either. Chronic stress can produce unpredictable fluctuations in menstrual cycle times, causing your period to come late or not at all. Irregular periods make life more challenging, especially when trying to conceive.
• More intense premenstrual syndrome (PMS) – Your period may already cause stress due to PMS symptoms like mood swings, bloating, cramping, and fatigue. With chronic stress added to the mix, these symptoms can worsen.
• Pregnancy-related mental health issues – If you experience high levels of stress during your pregnancy, you may have a greater risk of developing depression or anxiety. This is especially true during the postpartum period.

Most notably, stress also affects ovulation and conception chances. How does it create such a wide impact on your most essential reproductive functions?

Your hormones hold the key.

How Stress Influences Reproductive Hormones

The stress response and the reproductive cycle both rely on a chain of hormonal signal reactions. Here’s a closer look at each:

• HPA axis – The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis controls the stress response from the initial stressor to your body’s reaction. When you perceive a stressor, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland, which then signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol, A.K.A. the “stress hormone.”
• HPO axis – The hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis controls the reproductive cycle, including menstruation, ovulation, and conception. During the menstrual cycle, the hypothalamus releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which prompts the pituitary gland to release luteinizing hormone (LH), which then signals the ovaries to produce the reproductive hormones estradiol and progesterone.

Notice how both axes involve the hypothalamus and pituitary glands? When a stressor activates the HPA axis, the reproductive system’s HPO axis can’t function normally. How’s that for mixed signals?

When you experience constant stress, your body goes into “survival mode.” To keep you safe from perceived threats (i.e. chronic stressors), it diverts energy away from unessential functions, like your reproductive system.

This energy diversion occurs on a hormonal level: To fully support the HPA axis and stress response, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland produce less GnRH and LH, which inhibits the ovaries from releasing your main reproductive hormones.

Stress and Its Impact on Conception Chances 

How does stress affect conception? Due to the heavy overlap between the HPA axis and HPO axis, it can lower your chances of conceiving in a few possible ways:

• Unpredictable ovulation times – It’s difficult to pick the best times to try for a baby when you can’t accurately track your fertile window or ovulation.
• Increased risks of anovulation – Anovulation occurs when the ovary doesn’t release an egg during the menstrual cycle, preventing you from conceiving. If your HPA axis is working overtime to combat stress, the HPO axis may not produce enough reproductive hormones to initiate egg release.
• Implantation issues – Progesterone helps to thicken the uterine lining and create a sustaining environment for an egg to implant. Stress inhibits progesterone production, however. Even if you do fertilize an egg, it may not implant in your uterus successfully.

Stress may also affect your anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) levels. The ovaries produce AMH; levels indicate your ovarian reserve or egg count and help measure overall fertility. You need normal levels of AMH to successfully conceive. Research shows that stress lowers AMH levels, impacting fertility.

Analyzing How Stress Can Delay or Prevent Conception

In short, stress and conception don’t mix well. You may experience bouts of infertility that make conception much more challenging.

Stress impacts your ability to conceive by having sex, but it can also limit the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. A systematic review of studies researching the stress-IVF connection found that both acute and chronic stress can hamper egg retrieval for external fertilization.

Does stress affect conception permanently, though? Fortunately, it doesn’t!

Stress throws your body (and your reproductive system) off balance, but you can quickly re-center yourself by reducing your stress levels. Stress reduction techniques and lifestyle changes can help manage your stress hormone levels and support healthy reproductive function.

Practical Tips for Managing Stress While Trying to Conceive 

If stress has prevented you from successfully conceiving, don’t lose hope. You can make simple lifestyle adjustments to lower your stress levels and help increase your chances of having a baby. You can read up on helpful tips to get pregnant here on our blog.

Before implementing any of these strategies, consider your current mindset regarding stress and fertility challenges. Remember: Fertility issues are not your fault. Stress is not your fault. By avoiding the self-blame game, you can focus on your true goal: conceiving a baby.

Effective Stress Management Techniques for Better Fertility 

Countless researchers have measured the effectiveness of popular stress management techniques. Here are some of the best strategies for better fertility:

• Clock some quality Z’s – Sleep allows your body to recharge after experiencing daily stressors. Quality sleep plays a critical role in mental health and overall well-being, including fertility preservation. To clock the recommended 8 to 9 hours a night, you can transform your bedroom into a restful and relaxing haven. Consider using light-blocking curtains, limiting noisy distractions, and avoiding screen use before bed.
• Breathe, just breathe – Deep breathing allows your body to tap into the stress response’s calmer sibling, also known as the relaxation response. Other activities that unlock the relaxation response include meditation, yoga, reciting positive affirmations, and peaceful visualization. These methods are effective in stress reduction, improving your emotional stress management.
• Exercise the stress away – Simply moving your body—stretching, dancing, or taking a lap around the neighborhood—can lower stress levels and help increase fertility. If you’re juggling work, doctor appointments, and conception attempts, consider scheduling short breaks to just move.
• Talk it out – You don’t have to deal with your psychological stress alone. Express your feelings to those you trust: your partner, a family member, or a friend. By letting others know about your internal struggles, you can get the support you need to acknowledge and lower your stress. Talking through your fertility journey can also provide relief from the anxiety around fertility challenges you’re facing.

When to Seek Professional Help for Stress and Fertility Issues 

Stress often isn’t the sole cause of fertility issues. To find out what other factors may be at play, consider speaking to a healthcare professional.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends you seek fertility help if:

• You’ve been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for over a year
• You’re 35 or older and have been trying for 6 months
• You’re 40 or older and want to conceive

During your first appointment, your physician will ask about your medical history and lifestyle to help determine the root of your conception struggles. They may also conduct blood and imaging tests to measure your hormone levels and check on your reproductive organs.

If you think stress might be the culprit in your conception conundrum, let your physician know. They can help you adopt a low-stress lifestyle that benefits you and your chances for a baby.

How The SneakPeek Test® Can Help During Your Journey

We care about your entire pregnancy and parenting journey: the “trying to conceive” (TTC) period, prenatal months, delivery day, and beyond. That’s why we offer physician-reviewed information and advice for trying, expecting, and new parents alike.

And once your little one is on the way, you can learn their predicted fetal sex with the SneakPeek® At-Home Early Gender DNA Test.

All it takes is a blood sample, and you can know your baby’s predicted sex as soon as 6 weeks into your pregnancy. Simply collect your sample at home, mail it to our lab, and receive results as early as that day.

Clinically proven with over 99% accuracy, the SneakPeek test is the #1 OBGYN-recommended at-home gender test on the market today. Join the over 1 million parents who use SneakPeek for fast, easy, and accurate insights into their baby’s sex. Order your test today.