Laugher is the best medicine

I’m going to get myself back into the regular plan of  yoga and acupuncture I was doing before and during the IVF treatment for Lady G – not entirely sure of how much effect it had, but I want to make sure I am relaxed as possible.    But this news report suggests that laughter can have an impact on cycle success, and is probably also worth consideration:

A study published in Fertility and Sterility…found that the odds of success were greater among women who were entertained by a professional “medical clown” just after the embryos were transferred to their wombs.

Overall, 36% became pregnant, as compared to 20% of women who’d had a comedy-free recovery after the transfer procedure.

The researchers found that, compared to women who came to the clinic on a “non-clown” day, those who’d had a laugh were more than twice as likely to become pregnant, when other factors such as age, type of infertility and the number of embryos transferred, were taken into account.

Friedler said more studies were needed to see if other stress-reducing techniques might be useful, noting that it wasn’t clear if the clown intervention had actually worked to curb stress. Researchers also don’t know what role emotional stress might play in IVF success.

Now, this is dangerously close to the old ‘just relax and it will happen’ meme, and I can say for sure that I’m not going to rush out and hire a clown to accompany me to the day clinic.  But never one to ignore what seems like it could help without hurting, I can see myself loading up my iphone with a few good comedy tracks to listen to and perhaps heading off to a fun movie after transfer.  Although last time I think I headed back to the office and just did a day of normal work – so perhaps it’s worth remembering that it’s kind of out of my hands at that point!