Many women who are trying to conceive don’t think about the connection between sleeping and women’s fertility. Not getting enough sleep can actually throw your entire body off making it more difficult to conceive. Trying to get pregnant can be extremely stressful and stress is the leading cause of insomnia or not getting enough sleep.
What happens to our bodies when we sleep?
During sleep, our bodies release many different hormones to help repair damaged cells and tissue, replenish your energy, grow, and stimulates the immune system. If we don’t get enough sleep we are more likely to get sick and contract diseases due to a depressed immune system. Depending on your age, genetics and our current health status the amount of hours of sleep needed in a night will vary greatly. On average, adults should get between seven to nine hours of sleep every night on a regular basis.
What is the link and/or connection between sleep and women’s fertility?
The connection between sleep and fertility is a mystery. Getting a good night’s sleep will keep your body working properly. How much sleep you get varies from person to person. Everyone is different and their bodies are different. Everyone’s body needs a different amount of sleep to function properly. Because your circadian rhythm, often known as your “internal clock,” it is important to keep that internal clock ticking away perfectly.
What kinds of women are not getting enough sleep?
Women who work in certain careers tend to experience problems with getting enough sleeping making the connection between sleep and fertility more clear. Women who hold high stress jobs in fields such as medicine, law, psychology, education, and business will find themselves fighting for time to get sleep without stress. Specific careers may include doctors, nurses, lawyers, judge, law enforcement, psychologist, college professor, secondary education teachers, and higher-up business executive positions. The reason for this is because these careers are considered “high-stress” and stress is the number one cause of sleepless nights for most women.
How can sleep affect chances of pregnancy?
If your sleep cycle is regularly disrupted it could eventually lead to specific reproductive issues. The secretion of hormones is controlled by the circadian clock; sleep is the one thing that controls our rhythm of sleep and energy as well as the amount of hormones that are secreted while sleeping. Practicing excellent sleeping habits allows your body to restore those natural rhythms helping with the regulation of those hormones necessary for reproduction. If you are consistently deprived of quality sleep your chances of pregnancy complications and of having multiple miscarriages will increase significantly.
Sleep also helps with overall health. Staying in overall excellent health makes fertility more favorable. Having a compromised immune system leads to many health problems. For example, if your partner has had a bout of illness such as the flu, his sperm count can drop drastically for up to four months. In women, overall reproductive health can be significantly compromised as it gets back to operating normally after an illness.
What are other health effects when lacking sleep?
There are many medical problems that come with lack of sleep in addition to fertility problems. Lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns is extremely detrimental to our normal everyday ability to function. Neurotransmitters in our brains go out of whack which can throw our bodies into completely turmoil. This specific problem is known as circadian rhythm disorder. Other common health problems that come with lack of sleep which all lead to problems with fertility include obesity, a resistance to insulin, increased levels of stress, and high blood pressure.
Along with problems sleep deprivation creates for the reproductive system, it can also wreak havoc on your body causing other significant health problems. Lack of sleep contributes to the following health conditions:
– Emotional instability
– Decreased sex drive in both men and women
– Obesity
– Cognitive function impairment
– Hormone imbalances
– Depressed immune system leading to slow healing time and a build-up of toxins in the system
– High blood pressure
– Stroke and heart disease
– Gastrointestinal problems including peptic ulcers
– Different types of blood sugar disorders
– Specific types of cancers including breast cancer, prostate cancer, colectoral cancer, and endometrial cancer
Some facts about sleep and women’s infertility
Here are some interesting facts about the correlation between sleeping and women’s infertility:
– When trying to conceive, it is important for both you and your partner evaluate your lifestyle choices.
– There are many circadian rhythms within your body with the sleep/awake rhythm being the most important. Disruptions to this rhythm can cause significant impairments with normal body functions.
– Studies have shown that men’s fertility is also significantly impaired if he isn’t getting enough sleep or if his circadian rhythms in his sleep cycle are frequently interrupted.
– Research shows that sleep deprivation can lead to different types of reproductive cancers.
Quick Tips for getting better sleep
When it comes to sleeping and women’s infertility many women struggle to find a pleasantly restful solution on how to get quality sleep. Some quick tips for getting more restful sleep include:
– Pull together a bed time routine. Be consistent with this routine and get to bed at a reasonable time every night.
– Do not consume food or beverages with a high caffeine content as it could stimulate your system and keep you up at night.
– Keep your bedroom cooler as heat can make you uncomfortable preventing you from getting a restful sleep.
– Get into a regular exercise routine. By doing this you are tiring out your body making you WANT to hit the sack earlier.
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