Women Who Bear Heavy Loads Have More Trouble Getting Pregnant

A new study points out the fact that women who bear heavy loads or work full-time, more than 40 hours a week, have more trouble getting pregnant. The study was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The researchers analyzed 1,739 nurses who wanted to conceive.

As a resolution to the end of the study, researchers discovered that 16 percent of the nurses failed to get pregnant after 1 year, whereas 5 percent failed in two years’ time.

Researcher at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and lead author of the study, Audry Gaskins, reported that heavy work in terms of long hours and overwhelming physical effort seemed to have an injurious impact on the nurses, impeding them to get pregnant.

To be more precise, the female nurses who work more than 40 hours a week are 20 percent less likely to bear a child, in comparison to those who worked less. Conception can be delayed by 50 percent by moving or lifting approximately 25-pound loads a day.

A reproductive health specialist not involved in the research, Courtney Lynch, explained that the effect could have occurred as a result of these females’ limited time to intercourse with their partners, due to their daily tasks.

However, in terms of healthier, less tense women, conceiving may take from three to six months, but they might encounter other fertility problems, due to excessive smoking or drinking, for instance.

Previous data (from 2010 to 2014) involving nurses who wanted to get pregnant was also analyzed by the research team. Unlike women with irregular menstruation, who were excluded from the study, statistics showed that approximately 44 percent were overweight, 55 percent had an age range of about 33 years old, whereas 22 percent were smokers or had quit.

Causes related to not being able to conceive involve sleep deprivation, stress, excessive smoking and drinking. These women are advised to take care of their weight too, maintaining a healthy one. The reproductive specialist suggested they engage in intercourse not only in weekends, but twice a week.

It should finally be pointed out that women should keep track of their fertility progress by tracking their ovulation in specialized centers.

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