Stressed Out?

Couples Spa Top 10

By Kelly Burgess

Just relax and you'll get pregnant!

How many times have you heard that one? So many times that you'd like to hit the next person who says it to you over the head with a speculum? Well don't do it. While it may seem trite, there's actually a lot of good evidence, real and anecdotal, showing a link between stress levels and ability to conceive. Not that relaxing is a magic cure for fertility problems, but reducing stress can improve your chances.

In fact, yoga, acupuncture, biofeedback, aromatherapy and counseling are commonly recommended by many infertility clinics to their patients to complement the more traditional procedures. Some clinics even have on-site facilities to help their clients deal with the many stresses of infertility treatments.

There are other ways of dealing with life stresses that don't have to be directly associated with baby-making. A couple's getaway is an excellent way to reconnect, and where better to go than a spa where the focus is on relaxation and rejuvenation?

When Dave Weston of Wexford, Pa., was looking for something special for his wife for their fifth wedding anniversary, he decided something relaxing was definitely in order. "After six months of fertility treatments, we were eating, sleeping and breathing baby talk," he says. "We also spent two weeks each month biting our nails in anticipation of the outcome of that little test that would tell us if we'd been successful. We were getting more and more stressed, and I knew from the reading we'd done that there was a link between the stress of infertility treatments and an ability to conceive, so I decided it was time to try to alleviate some of the nerves."

Weston bought a weekend getaway package at a resort in the Poconos, and they spent one entire day at the spa and the rest of their free time golfing, strolling the grounds and admiring the fall colors. He doesn't think that particular getaway led to their eventual conception, which occurred a couple of months later, but he does credit it with changing their attitude. "The weekend was so great that we started working on ways we could de-stress on a day-to-day basis," he says. "It helped us to realize that no matter what happened, we were the core, we were what were important. Everything else we could deal with."

Want to see more?

• 7 Sexy Secrets: Make Conception Fun
• In the Mood? Get Ready to Conceive
• Fanning the Flames: Keeping the Love Alive When You're Trying to Conceive
• Check out our Article Library.
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