When you long for motherhood, whether as a first-time mom or to welcome a new addition to your family, each negative pregnancy stick can feel like another weight settling in your gut as disappointment becomes your newest companion. While many factors weigh in to infertility, one of them may be something you can easily control—your sleep.
Our sleep is closely tied to the production of various hormones relating to conception, meaning getting enough sleep is crucial for keeping all our hormones in working order—any dysfunction in hormones can lead to menstrual irregularities, which then makes conception more challenging.
Once you see the connection between sleep and female fertility, it becomes clear that getting enough sleep should be the top priority on your road to pregnancy.
How Sleep Affects Fertility
Our sleep can affect female fertility through both direct and indirect methods, showing just how crucial this time in bed is for conception.
A Lack of Sleep Can Affect Your Hormones
The greatest risk that sleep deprivation can cause to your fertility is through its impact on crucial hormones related to fertility. This connection stems from the fact that the same part of the brain that regulates your sleep-wake hormones (such as cortisol and melatonin) also triggers your release of reproductive hormones.
There’s one hormone, in particular, that can be affected by your lack of sleep, and it can have snowballing consequences.
Luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers ovulation in the menstrual cycle, keeping the cycle regular while also supplying the egg that then has the opportunity to be fertilized, leading to pregnancy. However, long-term sleep deprivation may affect the release of LH, which can cause irregularity in the menstrual cycle; this can then lead to greater difficulty getting pregnant.
Research, in particular, has found that sleep decreases LH pulses in the early follicular phase while being awake is related to a greater LH pulse amplitude. These pulses and surges are important to note because they can interfere with reproduction, and if sleep is missed and you are awake more, LH levels rise, which is then associated with cycle irregularity and infertility.
A lack of sleep may also increase your risk of hormonal health conditions that can make conception more challenging. High levels of thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH) can cause recurrent miscarriage, anovulation, menstrual irregularities, and amenorrhea. It can also increase prolactin release, which increases the risk of infertility. As for what can cause a TSH rise, research has shown that TSH surges under acute sleep deprivation.
The effect of sleep on your hormones is the most direct way in which sleep influences fertility, but there are other indirect factors, as well.
Sleep Deprivation Makes You Moody (And Not in the Mood)
Everyone knows how a night with too little sleep puts us on a shorter fuse the following day, where our patience is thin. Many times, this can make us more moody, and fights between us and those we live with, including our partners, can be more common.
If sleep deprivation becomes a constant, and the poor moods continue, this could weigh down on your relationship with your partner and lead to fewer opportunities for pregnancy to occur simply because you’re not in the right mood.
Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Health
In addition to the hormone-related health conditions that can crop up with sleep deprivation, a lack of sleep can also increase your risk of other health conditions, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. While seemingly unrelated to pregnancy, many of them can affect your fertility and may also increase your risk of a high-risk pregnancy.
For instance, research has shown that hypertension before conception is associated with pregnancy loss, while other studies have shown that the reproductive period of women with diabetes may be reduced while also causing menstrual abnormalities during the reproductive years that can make conception more challenging.
Sleeping Tips to Improve Fertility
Getting enough sleep is crucial for all areas of your well-being, including your fertility, since regular amounts of good, quality sleep allow your hormone levels to remain regular while also keeping your mood up.
If you’re looking to improve your fertility through your sleep, give these tips a try:
- Set a bedtime. When you set a regular bedtime for yourself, you start prioritizing your sleep and ensure you spend enough time between the sheets resting each night. Additionally, going to bed and waking up at the same time each day keeps your circadian rhythm regular, which can help increase regularity in your hormones, as well.
- Create a bedtime routine. With a bedtime in place, it’s time to fill the time beforehand with relaxing activities that prepare your body for sleep. Consider taking a warm bath, reading a book, breathing in relaxing scents, or listening to peaceful music to get your mind ready for bed. Most importantly, though, keep your routine the same each day to see the greatest benefit—soon, your body will recognize that the routine starting is a sign that sleep is soon to come.
- Get outdoors. Getting outside, especially in the morning, can help regulate your circadian rhythm, keeping your hormones on track.
- Avoid shift work when possible. Research has found that shift work may be associated with a higher struggle with infertility, specifically because of its effect on your circadian rhythm. If possible, try to avoid working off hours.
- Put down your phone. Your phone, and any other screen, is a significant disruptor to your sleep. The blue light in our screens can suppress melatonin production, which may keep you up, so say goodnight to your electronics at least an hour before going to bed—your sleep will thank you.
- Treat your health conditions. If you have a health condition that can affect your fertility, such as diabetes, research has shown that treating the condition can increase fertility rates to a number close to those without the health condition. Even better, treating the health condition may improve your sleep.
Ultimately, getting enough sleep is crucial for your health and wellness, and that includes your fertility. Sleep ensures your hormones are properly released while also keeping bad moods at bay. However, if you adjust your sleeping habits and still struggle to conceive, reach out to your doctor for expert guidance. Fertility can be complex, but good sleep is one thing that you will never regret initiating.
