The Mind/Body Program for Fertility is a ten-week group program for individuals experiencing infertility, pregnancy loss, or wish to build a family. The program is led by our team of psychologists, who are all experts in the emotional aspects and challenges of infertility and family-building.
The program, held on Zoom, offers support for people at any stage of treatment.
In most groups, about half the participants are either beginning or in the midst of IVF treatment. The program enables participants to take back control of their lives, positively cope with treatments and learn about lifestyle habits that contribute to happiness and good health.
STUDY BASICS
As part of a large study on the impact of a Mind/Body Program on pregnancy rates, the program's founder recruited 143 Boston IVF patients whose physician had just advised them to move on to IVF treatment.
- Half of these patients, chosen at random, were selected to participate in a ten-session Mind/Body Program, while the other half received routine care.
- Unfortunately, the patients assigned to the Mind/Body Program began their first IVF cycle right away (they preferred not to wait for the next mind/body group to start), so only nine percent participated in half of their mind/body sessions. Nevertheless, for the first IVF cycle, both groups had a clinical pregnancy rate of 43% percent.
- However, for the second IVF cycle, when 76% of the mind/body patients had participated in at least half the program, the clinical pregnancy rate was 55%, compared to 22% in the control group. Again, this is a statistically significant difference.
- Until recently, there was a lack of concrete scientific data to offer evidence that higher conception rates occur in people with lowered stress levels. Dr. Domar changed that.
STUDY CONCLUSIONS
- There was no placebo effect. Even though all the Mind/Body patients knew they were assigned to attend a group, this knowledge had no impact on their first cycle.
- This means that knowing you will learn relaxation and stress management skills - but not actually yet having a chance to learn them - does not impact conception.
- Patients with infertility who learn various skills designed to lower stress, improve lifestyle habits, and decrease isolation experience significantly higher pregnancy rates than women who do not learn such skills.
- This study shows that comprehensive and intensive mind/body services correlate with higher pregnancy rates.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about how the Mind/Body Program for Fertility can help or reserve a spot, don't hesitate to contact us for additional information.
