Dr. Nadia Emphasizing on the Psychological Impact of Infertility

Many jobs have the potential to change someone else's life.

We consider an IVF specialist to be of life-giving significance. One such medical professional is Dr. Nadia Najjari, M.D., Ph.D., who practices reproductive medicine and IVF at one of the largest infertility clinics in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She happens to be a famous German Moroccan expert in reproductive health. She was born in Morocco, studied medicine in Germany, and spent 13 years working in several clinics there before relocating to the UAE, where she has been employed in different IVF clinics for the past 8 years. Because of her widespread experience she has a profound understanding of patients` needs during treatment.

The consultation of patients and evaluation of potential treatments in conjunction with them constitute the primary task of an IVF specialist that requires the most time and effort. Dr. Nadia adds that she is a fierce advocate of always giving patients all relevant facts. She notifies them of the truth about their chances of success after medication and treatment. Now that they have all the information, they must determine what to do, and most opt for treatment.

Dr. Nadia states, "For some women and couples, there can be this anticipation, a dream or a plan they had about having children, and they feel robbed of that desire." Dr. Nadia concurs that mental health examinations must be a part of the initial stages of infertility treatment.

The desire for a child is a result of individual development and it depends on psychosocial factors like individual personality, economic factors, fate, religion, family dynamics and culture. If the wish to get a child is not fulfilled and an infertility problem becomes apparent, this may result in a narcissistic wound that diminishes self-confidence. Hopelessness may arise. The patients may express feelings of guilt. There may be desperation and grief. The problem of infertility becomes a problem within the relationship of the partners. A person suffering from infertility will face complex issues which span biological, psychological, social and ethical domains. Discussion of these issues in a counselling context is often beneficial for patients.

Support counselling aims to give emotional support to patients experiencing distress. Distress can be caused by the frustration of the desire for a child, social and family pressure as well as by the reproductive technology employed and its limited success rate. Such distress motivates the need for emotional support from many sources. The treatment process will also provoke periods of particular distress that might increase the need for support counselling. For example, during phases of intensive assessment, waiting periods, failure to achieve pregnancy, decision conflicts with respect to treatment termination, and the end of treatment and so on. While the provision of emotional support should be part of any patient-centered care and treatment, support counselling should specifically focus on the resources patients themselves have in coping with emotional (and physical) distress and on working out new strategies of coping that might help in managing stressful situations. It is often the case that patients need support once treatment has ended. That is, when the couple are no longer patients at the clinic. Counselling services within clinics should therefore be developed in such a way that couples continue to have access to professional help for issues which may arise and/or persist after treatment has ended.

Evidenced-based guidelines in most countries have been set up in order to provide a framework for counselling in infertility and they highlight the need to address emotional needs in infertility and integrates psychological services within routine fertility care.

Dr. Nadia says she enjoys helping infertile couples get pregnant and treating them for their infertility. Over the past eight years in UAE, she has been prosperous, high above a thousand times to be exact. She has many thousands in total, considering her time spent in Germany. Because of her expertise, there are now many thousand people worldwide living their life because of her work. She is filled with awe and devotion as a result she admits, "I have to admit that my job is among the best in the entire globe. More fascinating and touching than any TV show or soap opera you can think of, I learn about experiences from spouses you wouldn't believe. My reward is to inform them that they are pregnant.

You need to be at least a half-psychologist to handle all of this. Even though it is commonly recognized that people facing infertility are more likely to experience melancholy and anxiety, Dr. Nadia claims that many people are not provided with mental health resources during clinical sessions. According to her, the key is understanding how infertility may affect your mental health and how to receive support.