Hypnosis ‘doubles IVF success

BBC News
29-06-1998
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Hypnosis ‘doubles IVF success

Summary: Women who are hypnotised before undergoing the transfer of an embryo as part of fertility treatment are twice as likely to become pregnant as women who are not, according to Israeli researchers.

Dr Eliahu Levitas and his team at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva found that 28% of women who were hypnotised became pregnant, compared with 14% of those who were not.

The researchers studied 185 women who were undergoing embryo transfer.

Twelve of the 98 who were not hypnotised became pregnant, compared with 28 out of 87 who were hypnotised.

Dr Levitas said: “This shows that hypnosis can be used to improve embryo transfer, and also to reduce the anxiety of women waiting for that single crucial moment of implantation.”

Embryo transfer is a crucial stage in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

It involves placing the embryos that have been fertilised in the laboratory into the woman’s womb.

Dr Levitas believes hypnosis helps women to relax, and that this may make the lining of the womb more receptive to receiving the embryo.

The hypnotised women were more relaxed and optimistic after embryo transfer, the researchers found.

They also needed less sedation during the transfer procedure.

Dr Levitas said hypnosis could be used to treat infertility in general, not just during IVF treatment.

He said: “We don’t know why, but we know that the chances of getting pregnant are reduced when a woman is stressed.

“Maybe hypnosis helps to reduce stress in these cases too.”

The research was presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in France.