It has been found out by a scientific study that pregnancy can get delayed by high stress levels.

A reduced chance of becoming pregnant was found by Oxford University experts in women who were planning a baby naturally when they measured stress hormones in them.

The added that more research was needed to figure out why did this happen and relaxation can prove helpful for some couples.

About 274 healthy women who were aged 18-40 and were planning a pregnancy were followed by researchers for the study.

Pregnancy chances can get affected by obesity, age and smoking but but the influence of stress is less clear.

Dr Cecilia Pyper, of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said, “Our study aimed to improve understanding of the factors that influence pregnancy in normal healthy women.”

Reasearchers measured adrenalin and cortisol, the body's fight or flight hormone, and connected with chronic stress, respectively, in saliva.

It was seen that there were 12 per cent lesser chances of getting pregnant among women with the highest levels of alpha-amylase which is an indicator of adrenalin levels during their fertile days.

While with cortisol there was no difference in the chance of becoming pregnant.