Objective was to evaluate the effect of counseling on women’s infertility-related stress. The study hypothesis was there is a statistically significant difference in the level of stress of infertile women between pre and post counseling. Intervention design was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study settings were in the gynecological clinics at Benha University Hospital, and Benha Teaching Hospital. A purposive sample of (67) infertile women who attended to the previous settings and fulfilling the study inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in the study. Data were collected through three main tools: Infertility structured interviewing questionnaire, Fertility Problem Inventory, the instructional guideline related infertility. The GATHER approach for counseling was followed for each woman. Results revealed that there was highly statistically significant difference pre and post counseling regarding all dimensions of stress and global score (p≤0.001). The mean scores showed a drastic improvement with all dimensions of stress and global score as the higher score revealed to higher stress. Conclusion: counseling can decrease the infertile women's perceived infertility-related stress. Thus, it could be suggested as one of the stress management strategies in infertile women. The study recommended establishment of counseling sessions and developing a support groups for the infertile couples and group therapy to minimize suffering and promote health condition. |
