The Eye-Opening Science

Behind Fertility & Hypnotherapy

Does This Really Work You May Ask?

At first, many are skeptical but get rapidly convinced after looking at the unending list of scientific studies backing the efficiency of hypnotherapy for fertility issues.

In simple terms, the brain is made up of 3 parts – the conscious, the subconscious and the unconscious mind.


The conscious mind

is your awareness at the present moment.

The subconscious mind

stores your recent memories for quick recall when needed. It also holds the programs that you run every day, such as recurring thoughts, behaviour patterns, habits, and feelings. It’s consciously at work, filtering the 2 million-plus bits of information you’re exposed to every second. If your conscious mind attempted to process all this data it would soon get overwhelmed so your subconscious filters out all the unnecessary information and delivers only what it believes is needed at the time – around 7 bits of information per second. It does all this behind the scenes allowing you to get on with your everyday tasks. It decides what is relevant information based on the programmes that are running in your unconscious mind.

The unconscious mind

Is the source of all the programs that your subconscious mind uses. It is like a vault containing all your memories, past experiences and the programs that have been installed since birth. It contains both memories that have been repressed through trauma and those that have simply been consciously forgotten and are no longer important to you. It’s from these memories and experiences that your beliefs, habits, and behaviours are formed and reinforced over time. You cannot, by choice, remember anything in your unconscious without some special event or technique.

Hypno-Conception

THE FACTS

  • The British Medical Journal published a study where women who had difficulty in conceiving were taught to replace their negative thoughts about their chances of getting pregnant with a positive belief that they would get pregnant. Half of them became pregnant. This was in sharp contrast with a control group who did not learn to replace negative beliefs – in that group, only 1 out of 5 conceived.
  • Science has proven that your unconscious beliefs about fertility, childbirth, fertility and even raising children can block your ability to conceive.
  • 35% increase in fertility rates
  • In another study at Harvard Medical school, a group of women were taught to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. 55% of that group went on to have a baby as opposed to only 20% of the control group. An increase of 35%.
  • Double the success for IVF treatments
  • According to a study conducted by Professor Eliahu Levitas and his team at Soroka Hospital, Israel, hypnosis can double the success of IVF treatments.
  • The study of 185 women found that 28% of the women who were hypnotized for the IVF treatment became pregnant, compared to 14% of the women in the control group who had IVF without hypnosis.

Rewire your brain

A neural pathway is a series of neurons connected together to enable a signal to be sent from one part of the brain to another. The brain is not a fixed structure. It has the ability to change. This is called the neuroplasticity of the brain. By forging new neural pathways you can create new habits and beliefs.

Neural pathways within the brain are similar to the paths you might find in woodland. The more frequently the paths are used, the more defined they become. When paths cease to be used they gradually disappear.

RTT uses hypnosis to take the client back to the root cause (thought or experience) that originally laid down an unwanted neural pathway. Negative emotions and experiences that have caused fertility blocks, can be understood and then released. New thoughts and beliefs can then be presented to the subconscious, prompting it to formulate new more positive pathways.

Hypnosis

The human brain operates on five different frequencies: Each frequency has its own characteristics as well as a particular level of brain activity and consciousness.

  • Beta (14-40hz) – the waking consciousness and reasoning wave
  • Alpha (7.5 – 14mz) the deep relaxation wave
  • Theta (4.7.5mz) the light meditation and sleeping wave
  • Delta (0.5 – 4mz) the deep sleep wave
  • Gamma (above 40mz) the insight wave

Hypnosis is a completely natural state of relaxation where the brain is moved into the Alpha state. It’s the gateway to your subconscious mind and lies at the base of your conscious awareness. In the Alpha state is it possible to access forgotten memories and experiences that may be negatively affecting you. This is the optimal time to reprogram the mind as it has increased responsiveness to suggestions in this state.

Research on the success of hypnosis on fertility

THE RESEARCH

  • Infertile women utilizing mind/body techniques such as hypnosis have a 42 – 55% conception rate as compared to 20% with in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
  • The Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association 1999 and The Journal of Fertility and Sterility 2000.
  • Hypnosis based on imagery and a relaxation strategy was successful in facilitating fertility.
  • The treatment was considered to have resulted in beneficial modification of attitude, optimism, and mind-body interaction.
  • The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. (Volume 38, Issue 1, 1995, 22-6): Hypnosis in the Treatment of Functional Infertility.

More Evidence

Newspaper & Magazine Articles

Fertility Evidence

Relaxation training improves IVF conception rates

In a study of 63 women about to undergo an IVF treatment cycle, those who chose to attend 2 weeks worth of sessions on relaxation training were significantly more likely to conceive on their first IVF attempt.

(Farrar, Holbert, and Drabman 1990)

Reduction in stress and depression can improve conception rates

Women with unexplained infertility who went through an 8-week program of relaxation training, cognitive restructuring and self-instructional management were significantly more likely to conceive than a control group who received no training. Within the 2 month study period, 4 out of 7 experimental subjects conceived, whereas non of the 7 control subjects conceived.

(Rodriguez et al., 1983)

Behaviorally induced reproductive compromise in women and men

Psychosocial problems can affect the central GnRH-LH/FSH drive and cause ovarian compromise…. Attitudes, moods, and behaviours can have endocrine consequences and cause definable reproductive disorders….Misattributions, negative images of self and others, unrealistic expectations and emotional disharmony can cause neuroendocrine havoc.

(1997 Semin Reprod Endocrinal 15;1:47-53 Berga, S.L.)

Mothers who used hypnosis for anxiety and stress management had fetuses who moved in a much more active manner than a control group.

(Zimmer, Peretz, Eyal and Fuchs, 1988)

Women with depression, when treated showed a 60% viable fertility rate within six months, contrasting with 24% when depression went untreated.

(Journal of American Medical Women’s Association 1999 vol 54)

Hypnosis beneficial to IVF procedures

As mind/body programs are effective for reducing negative emotions that may impair IVF success, patients should be offered such a program in conjunction with IVF.

(Fertility and Sterility Journal 1998 vol 69)

Hypnosis as an adjunct to IVF procedures could be beneficial to those who are unable to conceive naturally.

(Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (Vol. 31, No2, 2003, 121-127) Recipe for a Miracle: Determination, Optimism, Medical Technology, and Hypnosis in IVF)

Infertile women utilizing mind/body techniques such as hypnosis have a 42 – 55% conception rate as compared to 20% with in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

(The Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association 1999 and The Journal of Fertility and Sterility 2000.)

Hypnosis based on imagery and a relaxation strategy was successful in facilitating fertility. The treatment was considered to have resulted in beneficial modification of attitude, optimism, and mind-body interaction.

(The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. (Volume 38, Issue 1, 1995, 22-6): Hypnosis in the Treatment of Functional Infertility.)

Anxiety impacts egg production and quality

Women undergoing IVF who were ‘worried’ about the medical aspects of the treatment had 20% fewer eggs retrieved and 19% fewer eggs fertilized.

(Klonoff-cohen and Natarajan 2004)

High levels of anxiety impact IUI success rates and miscarriage rates

In a study with women undergoing donor sperm insemination, those with higher levels of anxiety prior to undergoing insemination took significantly longer to conceive and were also significantly more likely to miscarry than those with lower levels of anxiety.

(Demyttenaere, Nijs, Steeno, and Koninckx 1988)

Childbirth Evidence

One hundred pregnant women whose foetuses were in breech position at 37-40 weeks’ gestation and a matched control group. 81% of breech babies were successful conversions to a vertex position compared with 48% in the control group. The success was thought to be down to psychophysiological factors which may influence the breech position.

(Mehl, 1994)

100 women trained with hypnosis had a shorter first stage of labour for 100 (by 3.23 hours) compared to a control group of 88 women.

Abramson and Heron (1950) & Gallagher (2001)

Forty-five Hypnosis for Childbirth clients (first-time mothers) had an average of 4.5 hours for the active labour, a significant reduction compared to the usual 9 hours.

(Harmon, Hynan and Tyre, 1990)

In a British study, 55% of 45 patients (first and second-time mothers) required no medication for pain relief. In the other non-hypnosis groups, only 22% of 90 women required no medication.

(Harmon, Hynan and Tyre, 1990)

“A woman’s ‘self-efficacy for labour’ or confidence in her ability to cope has a powerful relationship to decreased pain perception and decreased medication/analgesia during labour. Anxiety is commonly associated with increased pain during labour and may modify labour pain through psychological and physiologic mechanisms. “Fear of pain may be one component of labour-related anxiety, and has a huge correlation with pain levels reported during first stage labour.”

(Lowe, N. 2002)

Thirty-eight out of forty-five Hypnosis for Childbirth mums delivered spontaneously without the use of caesarean, forceps or ventouse. This rate of 84% is higher than the average rate of normal birth for the general population of first-time mothers.

(Harmon, Hynan and Tyre, 1990)

Using hypnosis can reduce the length of active labour by 3 hours from the usual 9 hours.

(Jenkins and Pritchard 1993)

Hypnosis can be used to promote and suppress lactation.

(August 1961; Cheek & LeCron, 1968; Kroger, 1977)

I'm Andrea Yearsley
Your Clinical Hypnotherapist

I am a Member of the National Council of Psychotherapists and the General Hypnotherapy Register.

I have years of experience as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Advanced Rapid Transformational Therapist, and Certified Women’s Coach.

I'd love to help boost your fertility with proven & science-backed hypnotherapy methods.

You'll know if I can help after just one call.

Hello, I’m Andrea.
Your science-driven Hypnotherapist. I'm here to support you in your fertility journey.

Let’s get you into the best possible mental and physical shape. It will give you the greatest chance of success.

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