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
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.
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
More Evidence
Evidence suggests women’s ovaries can grow new eggs
The impact of hypnosis on embryo transfer
http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(06)00077-X/fulltext
Hypnosis, fertility and stress
https://hypnosis.edu/articles/fertility
Mind- body programmes boost IVF fertility rates
http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/17/mind-body-programs-boost-fertility-rates-for-ivf-patients/
Study identifies brain areas altered during hypnotic trances
Scientists discover how hypnosis actually works
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)
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)
