Don't worry; get pregnant

Women who worry excessively about getting pregnant through assisted reproductive technologies (i.e., IVF and GIFT) tend to produce fewer eggs and have a significantly lower chance of becoming pregnant than women who worry less, according to a prospective study from the University of California San Diego.

The researchers found that women who worried more about the medical aspects of the procedures had 20% fewer eggs retrieved and 19% fewer eggs fertilized than women who were less concerned about such factors as side effects, pain, recovery, surgery, and anesthesia. Women who were highly concerned about missing work had 30% fewer eggs fertilized than women who were less so. And those who were very concerned about the cost of the procedures were 11 times less likely than women who were less so to achieve a live birth delivery.

Klonoff-Cohen H, Natarajan L. The concerns during assisted reproductive technologies (CART) scale and pregnancy outcomes. Fertil Steril. 2004;81:982-988.