NEW YORK — Women who are hypnotised before undergoing the transfer of an embryo created by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) may be more likely to become pregnant, Israeli researchers report. (The Times of Oman)

Dr Eliahu Levitas of Soroka University Medical Centre in Beer Sheva and colleagues found that nearly 60 per cent of a group of women who were hypnotised during the procedure became pregnant, versus about 30 per cent of a group of women who weren’t hypnotised. Many infertility experts see the transfer of an embryo to a woman’s uterus as a key event that determines whether IVF will succeed, the researchers report in the journal Fertility and Sterility. Women may be stressed during embryo transfer from fears that the treatment will fail, they explain, or that the transfer will be painful.
Hypnosis has been shown to be helpful in reducing patients’ stress during many types of surgical procedures and can also reduce pain during and after surgery. To investigate if this technique might help IVF patients, the researchers assigned 89 couples that underwent 98 treatment cycles to hypnosis, and compared the outcome to that of 96 couples who underwent 96 cycles and were not hypnotised.

Women in the hypnosis group met with a physician certified in hypnosis, who asked them to select a “very pleasant” past experience to think of during embryo transfer. Patients were hypnotised before the transfer, and told to compare the procedure “with the reception of long-awaited and very welcome guests.” After the woman was in a trance state for about 10 minutes, the doctors began the transfer. — Reuters
 
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