STRESS LEVEL ACROSS STAGES OF IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION IN SUBSEQUENTLY PREGNANT AND NONPREGNANT WOMEN

Objective: To examine the relationship between stress and NF outcome i n women and to compare prospective ratings of IVF stress to retrospect ive ratings. Design: Women completed daily stress ratings for one comp lete NF cycle. Three days after the pregnancy test women completed a q uestionnaire that asked them to recall the stress of IVF. Based on the results of treatment, women were assigned to the nonpregnant (n = 23) or pregnant (n = 17) group and their daily stress ratings were compar ed. In addition, prospective and retrospective ratings were compared. Results: The nonpregnant group reported more stress during specific st ages of NF and had a poorer biologic response to treatment than the pr egnant group. It also was found that women recalled the stress of the waiting period as greater than their ongoing experience of it as measu red by their daily ratings. Conclusions: The pattern of differences be tween the nonpregnant and pregnant group on stress and biologic factor s indicates that stress is related to IVF outcome. Certain data sugges t that negative feedback about the progress of treatment communicated to patients responding poorly to IVF (nonpregnant group) may have incr eased their stress level. However, the direction of causality between stress and IVF outcome remains speculative. Differences between prospe ctive and retrospective stress ratings may reflect women's attempt to cope with the strain of the waiting period.