This may be old news to some of you, but it was new news to me today. I was in the waiting room at my son's doctor's office, reading a newer issue of Psychology Today Magazine. In one of their little blurbs, they mentioned a study in which hypnosis aids women undergoing ivf. The actual study was not mentioned in the small article, but, thanks once again to google, I found the study.

Reported on August 24, 2004 www.OurJerusalem.com ran the article. Quoting David Brinn, here are some of the highlights of the article:

If Israeli professor Eliahu Levitas has his way, women undergoing IVF treatment will all have the benefit of a hypnotist at their bedside.

According to Levitas’s team from Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, hypnosis can double the success of IVF treatment. Levitas’s study of 185 women found that 28% of women in the group who were hypnotized became pregnant, compared with 14% of those who were not.

“We gave hypnosis to a group of our patients during the most stressful part of IVF treatment - the transferring of embryos into the uterus,” Levitas told ISRAEL21c. “It’s a crucial point of the treatment, and the point in which the embryos comes in contact with the womb of the woman. It all builds up to that special moment, which is not very painful but is very stressful.”

According to Levitas, that stress can cause complications during the transfer that can put the procedure at risk.

“Studies have been done before which claim that during this short period, there’s so much stress in the woman’s body that it may induce contractions, albeit tiny ones, which may interrupt or even expel the embryos from the uterus at the same moment we’re introducing them,” he said.

To read the complete article click here.

In the above article, they did state that women were screened and accepted to this study by their ability to be hypnotized.

I have been hypnotized a few times and have achieved deep relaxation with it. I would consider using it in any type of stressful situation. My practitioner was certified in heart-centered hypnotherapy and was also a registered nurse and a close friend. It helped me through some major emotional times in my life that were not linked to fertility. I wish that this study would have been done while I could have used it for my fertility issues.