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Getting pregnant with hypnosis

10:47 PM PST on Friday, February 16, 2007

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

These days, hypnosis is being used for all kinds of things to stop smoking, lose weight, treat a nagging skin condition, even for labor pain in the delivery room.

But now, some women swear the mind-over-matter technique has helped them get pregnant. But does it work?

Amber Olson is a busy, working mom with another baby on the way. That was a challenge.

"I had three and a half years of infertility," said Amber Olson, mother. "I was not getting pregnant naturally."

Doctors could find no physical reason. Fertility treatments didn't work.

"It was really heartbreaking," said Olson.

Then Olson tried hypnosis. Olson says her hypnotherapist guided her to a relaxing, stress-free world.

"I felt excellent!" said Olson. "You know, I'd get in the car, you know, turn up the music. I'd dance. I'd sing."

And after only two sessions, Olson was pregnant.

Lynsi Eastburn is a certified hypnotherapist and author of It's Conceivable. She says stress prevents many couples from being able to conceive.

"A lot of times they become so obsessed with it, they can't stop thinking about it, talking about it," said Eastburn. "Their emotions are out of control."

Certified hypnotherapists promise to relieve that stress naturally and release any subconscious blocks using things like guided visualizations. But is there scientific proof that hypnofertility works? There's one small Israeli study that shows increased success with in-vitro when hypnosis is used, but fertility expert Dr. Mousa Shamonki says the study design was not ideal.

"The reality of it is that we need better studies to assess whether hypnosis actually is beneficial," said Shamonki, UCLA Medical Center.

Eastburn and Olson say they see proof every day.

"It's an amazing field to be in because we get the call, or somebody comes in to tell us that they're pregnant," said Eastburn.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has no formal position on hypnofertility because more research is needed.

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