University Essay: Holistic Midwifery Care for Infertile Women

This essay, prepared for a Bachelor of Midwifery program, delves into the crucial role of holistic care for women grappling with infertility. It emphasizes the integration of emotional, psychological, spiritual, and environmental factors in providing comprehensive support. The essay explores the societal impact on women with infertility, including cultural norms and stigmas, and highlights the importance of midwives in offering culturally sensitive care. It examines the psychological effects of infertility, such as depression, anxiety, and the need for supportive interventions, including counseling and assisted reproductive technologies. The discussion includes the significance of psychosocial care, the impact of infertility on sexual function, and the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among those undergoing IVF treatment. The essay underscores the importance of empathetic understanding and the provision of adequate support to mitigate the challenges faced by infertile women, advocating for healthcare services equipped with well-trained staff to ensure holistic recovery. Various studies and research findings are cited to support the arguments and recommendations throughout the essay.

Running head: BACHELOR OF MIDWIFERY
Bachelor of Midwifery
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Topic: Holistic midwifery care for women coping with infertility
In the context of contemporary nursing practice, holistic care has garnered considerable
attention in terms of providing adequate care to the concerned individuals. Holistic nursing has
gained prominence whereby wellbeing of the individual in addition to health promotion and
patient centered care is fostered through integration of physiological concepts and therapeutic
approaches encompassing emotional, spiritual and psychological healing in case of the patients
(Cowling, 2015). In conjunction with traditional nursing approach, the dimension of mind-body-
spirit-emotion-environment component is reckoned in holistic nursing to offer optimal care
service for the patient population. There is growing volume of evidences regarding the utility of
holistic care nursing to address vital issues. One such issue is infertility in women that is
considered as the inability to conceive a child and holds serious repercussions that call for
prompt and prudent interventions. Women with infertility often experience greater psychological
impact (Begum & Hasan, 2014). However, recently infertility counseling has emerged as a
specialist discipline where interdisciplinary professionals intervene for answering the queries and
lending adequate support for couples encountering infertility and undergoing medical treatment
(Van den Broeck, 2010). Prevalence estimates for infertility has been attended to in order to
provide a satisfactory definition through proper demographics and health surveys (Mascarenhas
et al., 2012). In the following essay, efforts will be taken to provide a succinct overview on the
issue of infertility in women alongside the utility of provision for holistic care in tackling their
condition. An insight into the emotional and psychological support for them will be provided in
course of the discussions of the essay in conjunction with other available services that will
mitigate the problem. The devastating effects of infertility in mental health are matter of concern
requiring attention to cope up with mental-emotional, social and cultural aspects (Nahrin et al.,

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2017). Thus, the essay will also attend to describe and elucidate such situations with proper
examples and suitable references alongside the role of holistic care in combating the condition.
Society plays a major role in dictating and governing the lives of women with infertility
to large extent. As per the societal norms and standards, in many of the Indigenous societies, the
kind of treatment and self-respect experienced by a woman in her own community is often
attributed to motherhood. Infertility is considered problematic under such circumstances and
leads to differential life experiences among the victim women (Hollos et al., 2009). Pertinent
study has highlighted on the issue of low fertility with respect to urban population whereby both
primary as well as secondary infertility culminates in causation of serious personal ramifications
for women similar to those belonging to rural regions. Both the personal in addition to social
ramifications are of significance in bringing forth appropriate changes in the lives of these
women (Hollos & Larsen, 2008). Lifetime as well as current primary infertility rate in the
context of Iran has been presented in relevant literature. Implications in terms of healthcare and
service delivery emphasizing on factors such as age at marriage alongside couple’s fertility
potential must be considered for prudent interventions (Vahidi, Ardalan & Mohammad, 2009).
Role of midwives in caring for women in course of their reproductive life is crucial to guide
them in the right direction without posing any threat or harm from injury. Cultural safety that
encompasses respecting a woman’s privacy as well as bodily dignity has been considered vital
on the part of midwives to drive positive outcomes (Bennett, 2017). Other case reports
suggestive of primary infertility in women have indicated on the use of in-vitro fertilization as
well as other assistive reproductive technology to help in conception (Legro et al., 2016). Other
societal factors that contributes majorly in terms of highlighting and determining the issue of
infertility has also been presented in relevant study. Findings have revealed that infertility

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treatment is dependent on the financial resources that in turn determines the choice of treatment
type that a woman is likely to access (Farley Ordovensky Staniec & Webb, 2007). Thus, the
societal influence on women with infertility is of importance in gauging the role of holistic care
meant for improving the overall condition of women particularly emphasizing on their
wellbeing.
Unlike any other profession, the midwives share great responsibilities in assisting
the women in a befitting manner so that they do not have to encounter with major hindrances in
coping up with their conditions. However, in order to perceive their roles in making suitable care
approaches, it is necessary to understand the condition of infertile women. It has been cited in
literatures that women with infertility face negative experiences because of the ingrained societal
beliefs, stigma and discriminating attitude with respect to fertility and reproduction. As a result
the quality of life of these women get severely affected thereby necessitating the need of raising
public awareness regarding negative consequences of infertility through active engagement of
healthcare professionals (Daibes et al., 2017). Recent decades have witnessed unprecedented
changes in the development of assisted reproductive technology that have casted rays of hope in
the couples having issues with normal conception. Fertility treatment has advanced quite a bit
contributing to the lives of the infertile couple who cannot have child through the normal
physiological process. Access to care services has become common that in turn has optimized
the quality of life for the service recipients (Collura & Stevenson, 2016). Further, study has
brought to the forefront that infertile women are more likely to experience emotional problems
ranging from depression, anxiety, psychosomatic disorders, obsession, hysteria and phobia.
Thus, the urgency to foster suitable supportive educational program for creating awareness
regarding infertility has been felt more strongly. Education coupled with adequate awareness

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might streamline the actions directed towards overall wellbeing and improvement of the affected
individuls (Yakout, Talaat & Fayad, 2016). Although, infertility is essentially recognized as a
biomedical issue, yet the mental health issue associated with the condition is of relevance and
importance as it dictates the overall wellbeing of the individual. Research has focused on
multiple aspects whereby effectiveness of various interventions has been investigated and widely
explored to provide an insight on the issue of infertility. Study conducted on infertile women has
revealed that mindfulness based cognitive group therapy (MBCT) is fruitful in marital
satisfaction and mental health in case of infertile women. Consultation services in liaison with
proper trainings for the infertile couple have the potential of alleviating their problems to certain
extent (Shargh et al., 2016).
Holistic care approach resorts to address the psychological, emotional, spiritual,
societal and environmental needs thereby ensuring wholesome recovery of the patient. In this
respect, a cross-sectional study conducted on women having diminished ovarian reserve in
contrast to those diagnosed with anatomical cause of infertility has been conducted to examine
the magnitude and predictors of emotional reactions. Infertility distress was found to be greater
in women with diminished ovarian syndrome as opposed to those diagnosed with anatomical
cause of fertility (Nicoloro-SantaBarbara et al., 2017). In subsequent study, it has been shown
that quality of life and emotional status of infertile women both during and after fertility
problems show stark differences in comparison to their partners. Thus, women are predisposed to
the risk of encountering emotional problems thereby inviting suitable interventions to mitigate
the issues (Huppelschoten et al., 2013). Studies conducted with respect to understanding about
the perceptions and experiences of the infertile women in receiving care and other fertility
services. A prudent study brought to the forefront that infertile women experience discrepancies

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in terms of receiving the support they desire in contrast to what they actually receive from their
friends, family, spouses, online sources and medical professionals. Thus, support adequacy is
advocated through utilization of positioning social support as dynamic resource to combat the
effects of infertility in women (High & Steuber, 2014). Thus, the provision of psychosocial care
is of importance to facilitate the support for those experiencing infertility and medically assisted
reproduction. Study has shown that psychosocial care is of paramount importance for catering to
the diverse needs of the target population. Needs may range from behavioral, relational,
emotional and cognitive. Therefore following of suitable guidelines that has the potential of
ameliorating stress and concerns about medical procedures that in turn is likely to enhance the
lifestyle outcomes, fertility related knowledge, wellbeing of the patient and conformance with
the treatment agenda (Gameiro et al., 2015). Therefore, holistic midwifery nursing is of profound
importance as it adopts meticulous and pertinent approaches to combat the issues concerning
infertile women and account for holistic improvement of their outcomes.
Infertility is commonly attributed with distress that impairs the health condition of the
lives of couples. Moreover, physical and marital health of infertile women often is determined by
the sexual function of this population. However, appropriate research has shown that in case of
infertile women, sexual dysfunction is high. The women experiencing secondary infertility are
more likely to suffer from impaired sexual functioning in contrast to ones suffering from primary
infertility (Tanha, Mohseni & Ghajarzadeh, 2014). Across recent researches, empirical
evidences have been presented whereby association between stress of fertility treatment and
pregnancy rates and patient dropouts are prominent. Nevertheless, psychological interventions
constituting coping skills training as well as stress management has harbored positive outcomes
in terms of managing infertility patients. Mitigation of distress, loss of control, disruption in

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developmental trajectory and stigmatization may be attained through therapeutic intervention
which stand for holistic healing of patient (Cousineau & Domar, 2007). Further study has
provided a sneak peek into the issue of prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the infertile
men and women who are undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. The study outcomes
has revealed that mood disorders are common among both men and women who are undergoing
IVF treatment. Another alarming outcome revealed that majority of such patients having
psychiatric disorder was undiagnosed and untreated (Volgsten et al., 2008). Another relevant
study brought to the forefront the relationship between perceived stigma, disclosure patterns,
support and distress as experienced by the new attendees in the infertility clinic. Results of the
study demonstrated that higher levels of distress might be seen in case of women who have been
exposed to greater disclosure. Support for people having fertility problems must be attended to in
relation to stigma and wider social context. Distress is quite rampant among these population
owing to the negative impacts due to stigma attached to the issue of infertility in women (Slade
et al., 2007). Therefore, in order to combat these issues and advocate good practices for the
nurses and other healthcare professionals, it is imperative to streamline the healthcare services in
a manner where infrastructures are well equipped and the staffs are empowered with proper
training and competencies thereby ensuring holistic recovery for the intended audience.
Further studies have laid emphasis on the perception of control, coping and psychological
stress as experienced by infertile women undergoing IVF. Results of this insightful study
depicted that avoidance coping may be attributed to low perception of controllability. Moreover
both this confounding factors added to the experience of stress in the concerned population of
infertile women. Therefore, it is pivotal to arrange for suitable remedies and implement
interventions that might benefit infertile women undergoing treatment for altering their coping

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skills and enhancement of sense of control (Gourounti et al., 2012). Empathetic understanding
and consideration on the part of the medical advisors and counselors might lessen the burden of
infertility experience among the couples or at individual level. Couple counselors have been
identified as competent professional who holds the authority and ability to guide these people in
leading a better life overcoming the challenges faced due to infertility. Physical, social and
emotional responses to the infertility experiences need to be dealt adeptly so that holistic
outcomes in relation to the patient may be generated of which mental health status of infertile
women is of significance (Peterson, Gold & Feingold, 2007). Further, the association between
anxiety and infertility related stress in men and women has been confirmed in suitable study that
revealed the presence of greater degree of anxiety and infertility stress among women than men
(Peterson, Newton & Feingold, 2007). Thus, it is evident that the risks for infertile women is
higher in contrast to men thereby necessitating the urgency for suitable interventions that will
aim to address their issues and arrive at resolutions accordingly.
In view of the plethora of findings concerning infertility in women, efforts must be
strategized so that optimal wellbeing and holistic care may be directed to this population with the
aim of mitigating their psychological and emotional problems. Lack of training and insight on
matter related to infertility in women must be dealt adequately by arranging for educational
programs and awareness campaigns that will attend to the issues relevant to infertile women
more rigorously.

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