Women who are experiencing infertility problems are faced with a lot of emotions and anxiety due to the feeling that something is wrong deeply with them. It is the expectations of family members and the society that creates an extra pressure on women who are faced with the challenge of motherhood. Dealing with anxiety and emotions can be a challenge when facing a fertility specialist.

The anxiety when undergoing infertility treatment can take a huge toll both physically and psychologically on women and keeping control over emotions when meeting a fertility specialist can help relieve a great deal of pressure. Compared to men, women feel more distressed when faced with infertility, and hence it is important that a woman experiencing such mental torment undergo a program for stress reduction. A research study has disclosed that the depression within women facing infertility problem can be as much as those suffering from cancer or convalescing from a heart attack. The focus should be given on infertility counseling to deal with the stress and discuss all infertility queries with the fertility specialist.

Infertility counselling can be a solution for overcoming the stress being faced by women challenged with motherhood and include:

1. Managing emotions
2. Secondary infertility
3. Taking decisions about building a family
4. Parenting after infertility
5. Pregnancy loss
6. Deciding to use a surrogate or a donor
7. Sexual problems

Women in such circumstances go through depression, grief, shock, frustration, anger and loss of self-esteem and self-confidence. Here are few ways through which a woman can cope or manage the emotions faced due to infertility.

1. Educating about the process of treatment. You can prepare a questionnaire when consulting with an infertility specialist or a nurse about more information, risk factor and options that could help you take an informed decision.
2. Discuss at length with your partner about the options, cost of the treatment and how much insurance coverage you can expect to meet the expenses.
3. Once undergoing the treatment you can either take the help of the clinical staff to keep you well informed about the steps being taken during retrieval of eggs and other procedures, or simply engage yourself in other activities such as listening to music in order to overcome the mental trauma.
4. Helplessness can be very stressful, especially when a woman loses self-control. To overcome such trauma, taking self-control and nurturing yourself is important, especially when it comes to sleeping well, eating well, carrying out moderate exercises and engaging in such activities that are enjoyable.

Ultimately, it is important to be in a state of mind where disruptions and other negative results are acceptable. You should give yourself time to overcome the emotions and physical stress. Dr Neelima Mantri is an infertility clinic in Mumbai where a woman can get the desired assistance to help to overcome the challenge of anxiety and emotion during infertility treatment.